


When We Were Young

by KimiMeagan



Series: Please Don't Leave Me [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Academy, Best Friends, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Chakra Impression, Childhood Friends, Depression, Epic Friendship, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Issues, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Gotta Go Fast, I Made Myself Cry, Implied/Referenced Character Death, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Male-Female Friendship, Mangekyou Sharingan, Mangekyou Sharingan Induced Flashbacks, Memory Loss, Minor Violence, Ninja, Other, Past Character Death, Past Lives, Protectiveness, Reincarnation, Sharingan, Sorry Not Sorry, Team as Family, Training, Uchiha Obito Is A Ray Of Sunshine, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2020-08-11 22:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20161321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimiMeagan/pseuds/KimiMeagan
Summary: Her home didn’t have tatami mat flooring, sliding doors, and wooden verandas. Her home did not look like this, with its open screens and off white colors and natural wooden furniture. Her home was busy and loud and full, she remembered that much, not this quiet stillness that was only ever interrupted by large dark eyes and hair and a smile that only ever grew when she looked at it and –“Hi Aya-chan,” He was quiet when he spoke to her, always quiet, as if there was something wrong with speaking any louder. “I found a frog today.” And off he went, telling her all about his day – yesterday he had found a bird's nest in one of the trees he climbed at the park – and just as she had then, she just watched him and listened. She would hum when he’d stop, prompting him to talk more.It was the most noise she would get each day and she hated the quiet stillness that surrounded her. The only other interaction she had with a person was the elderly woman that would look after her. But even she couldn’t talk all day long. Not like Obito could.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prequel to the actual story, bear with me.

She knew she wasn’t supposed to be there; she still remembered TVs and video games and music videos, though her memory of what was on them was fuzzy, but she knew. _This was not her home. _Her home had cheap wood floors that shoes trampled on day in and day out; her home had plastered half-ass painted walls and old ceiling fans and store-bought brass door knobs and locks.

Her home didn’t have tatami mat flooring, sliding doors, and wooden verandas. Her home did not look like this, with its open screens and off white colors and natural wooden furniture. Her home was busy and loud and full, she remembered that much, not this quiet stillness that was only ever interrupted by large dark eyes and hair and a smile that only ever grew when she looked at it and –

“Hi Aya-chan,” He was quiet when he spoke to her, _always _quiet, as if there was something wrong with speaking any louder. “I found a frog today.” And off he went, telling her all about his day – _yesterday he had found a bird's nest in one of the trees he climbed at the park_ – and just as she had then, she just watched him and listened. She would hum when he’d stop, prompting him to talk more.

It was the most noise she would get each day and she hated the quiet stillness that surrounded her. The only other interaction she had with a person was the elderly woman that would look after her. But even she couldn’t talk all day long. Not like Obito could.

~~

Obito was barely older than her, a few years if she was to compare their similarly small sizes to one another – an opportunity she was given quite often when Obito decided he was going to put her hair in sloppy pigtails and sat them both in front of the old woman's full mirror. They looked alike, with their pale complexions and dark hair and eyes and _oh… the eyes… _She missed her color – couldn’t remember what it had been – but these eyes were pretty; long lashes and an endless pool of ink.

She missed writing, too, nearly as much as she missed reading, but Obito was enough. Obito, _for so long_, was enough.

And then Obito had to start school. He looked about the age, so she wouldn’t complain too much about it. He was in tears the morning he had to go, squishing her face to his and nuzzling it and talking about how he didn’t want to go without her and was going to come back as soon as he could to tell her all about his day.

Obito really was her favorite person.

Walking through the house before had always seemed like an adventure with Obito holding her hand and chattering away and making everything seem much more fanciful and new and exciting than it really was; the reminder of his absence made her feel cold and everything dull.

She had seen the living room, with its simply-placed furniture and sparsely decorated area – not the grand arena Obito swore it was with battles and victories and historic legends.

The kitchen was plain, too, everything in its proper place and tucked away if not out in the open – not Obito's feast hall with delicacies and platters from near and far and with difficult to pronounce names and ingredients he had made up himself.

The bedroom, the hallway, the bathroom even; none of it was the same as it was when Obito was there. It was almost depressing. She knew he’d be back though, he said he would be, and he would tell her all about his day and the Academy he had just started and what his teacher was like and his classmates and…

She missed him so much when he was gone.

~~

Her mind was still as it had been before, not that she could remember fine details but she remembered the broader subjects, like _drawing_ and _staying in the lines_ and how long it had taken her to learn how to get everything just right _because she wasn’t the artistic one in the family and struggled constantly to put thoughts to paper enough as it was_ and –

Obito loved her drawings, though; shitty as she thought they were. He thought they were the greatest things ever. Treasure maps and secret ninja scrolls and sly hidden messages and wanted posters – there was never an end to any of the things she made him. Even when they were actually fairly normal things.

He kept them all, though; she watched him tuck each and every one into a drawer by his bed and she’d smile.

~~

She was a newly turned two, Obito had been at the Academy for a year and had turned five a while prior, when she first met one of his friends. She was pretty, brown hair and lighter brown eyes, with purple markings on her face. There was something about them that she had found odd but she overlooked it because Obito was happy and showing her off and the old woman he called ‘Obaa-san’ was teasing him about giving her great-grandkids.

_Insanity._ The lot of it.

Her name was Rin –_ pretty name _– and she was on her very best behavior for her Obi-nii-san. With her not acting like other kids her age, she had overheard ‘Obaa-san’ say so herself, she was a proper little child in front of her brother's crush. And watching him shift and stutter and blush was just as amusing as she had thought it would be.

She liked Rin… so long as she didn’t hurt Obito, she wouldn’t have to change her opinion of her.

~~

“Do you want to play ninja with us?” He was **adorable**. He wasn’t pale like everyone else she had met, but had a beautifull dark tan, with dark-ish brown hair and even darker brown eyes. He had a wide grin on his face and had his hand held out to her. Normally, she didn’t play with the kids – she knew, physically, that she was one but mentally she was older… **so much older… **but _how_ old? – but there was just something about him that told her it would be alright.

She reached out and grabbed his hand and he tugged her with him over to a group of other kids, most of which she had turned down once before. She could see some of them starting to snub her, to turn their noses up and away and pointedly ignore her. But the boy that dragged her closer said, “She's going to play ninja with us too!”

Hell if she even knew what _playing ninja_ was.

“My name's Iruka!” The grin never left his face and she was reminded of Obito for just the briefest of moments. “What’s your name?”

“Ayame.”


	2. Chapter 2

Iruka wasn’t at the park today, something she was quick to discover once Obaa-san sat at the bench with her book. He was her go-to playmate, something that pacified the worried grandmother and kept her from fretting overmuch, but she didn’t mind when he wasn’t there. It meant his parents were both home, she found, and she was glad for him.

His parents were away a lot on work, he had told her, and were shinobi. What was it with everyone and being shinobi around here? Was it a popular theme? Even Obito spoke of becoming the greatest there was when he graduated.

It pulled at her memories some, _it sounded so damningly familiar_, but she pushed it aside and looked around the green_-green_ park. With no Iruka meant no playing ninja, _no big loss there_, but she wondered what she could do on her own now that _wouldn’t_ worry Obaa-san again. Laying there watching clouds was out of the question, she had tried to do it once before just to try and sort out her thoughts and **relax** and that had only ended up in a trip to the hospital and a week-long worried Obaa-san.

Tree climbing then? _Kids still did that, right? Her memory was as fuzzy as it always was on details but she was certain that was still something children did. There was a big tree near the edge of the forest that had branches close enough to the ground that if she managed to make it halfway up the trunk she’d be able to reach them herself._

__

__

What she didn’t think of was that a three-year-old, _such as herself_, probably shouldn’t be climbing because it makes the adults around them – 

“_Ayame!_”

– tend to overreact; like Obaa-san. She wouldn’t be able to make the climb herself, not at her age, but the man whose vest she grabbed when passing by would.

“Shinobi-san, _please_, will you get my granddaughter down?” Well, that didn’t last long, Ayame liked the view – she could see the whole park from where she was – but had, _admittedly_, gotten distracted by passing clouds and didn’t notice the harried elder until it was too late.

“Ah,” He sighed, this big exhale that seemed to weigh his shoulders down, and looked up at her. Dark hair, grey eyes, scars _scars **scars**_ – how did he get scars like those? He looked _exhausted_, which made her feel bad about keeping him from resting – _he seriously needed it_ – and shifted her footing on the branch. It held her this long, easily, then it should hold her well enough until she worked out the way to get back down.

_It was the left foot first…_

The _left foot first_ put her directly in reach of ‘Shinobi-san’ and he plucked her off the tree with relative ease and set her in Obaa-san's arms. There hadn’t been any danger to her person, not really since she knew better than to do a lot of those things that typical kids would, but she still reached out for the man to grab his hand and thank him.

Even if she _was_ a little put out at having to leave her perch.

“Thank you so much, Shinobi-san,” Obaa-san was saying while Ayame kept a grip on his hand with one of hers. His hands were rough and calloused and big – _so very big_ – and she blinked up at him just as lazily as he did down at her.

“_Thanks_,” She wasn’t going to pout over this. “I just wanted to watch the clouds.” She wanted to think and let her mind wander and rest but she knew better than to say any of that out loud. It would have meant another trip to the hospital and she was not that willing to be cooed at again by five random women in scrubs that all wanted to pinch her cheeks – _which was apparently a thing_.

He nodded, his half-lidded eyes opening just a fraction more, and tugged at her fingers just a little; as if she was something fragile in the palm of his hand. She _was_ small, she will give him that. “I do that too.” He admitted, voice rough and low and she liked the sound of it.

She also liked that he seemed to get it.

Obaa-san started to speak with him more, telling him how strange she found her wanting to cloud watch when other kids her age would run around playing some game or another. Telling him how _not-normal_ of a kid she was unless she was pulled along into it by Iruka. How she preferred to not do more than she should if she could help it. It didn’t sound like a typical three-year-old, she knew, but she didn’t want to double-work herself. Why drag things out when she could finish it in half the time and with half the work?

“Ah,” He said, looking at her with a head tilt, holding her stare before telling Obaa-san about his clan. How they would cloud watch and be dragged into things by their own friends and teammates and how they slept a lot. He said he would cloud watch to calm his racing mind; to rearrange his thoughts and slow them down enough to continue through the day. That his clan was known for their strategies and minds.

Sounded nice – the napping bit.

“Have you tried playing shogi?” He was a bit of a scruffy-looking guy, hair tied up high like Iruka and a jacket over his green vest that had its sleeves ripped off and had tatters and tears and… no, she hasn’t played shogi.

“No.”

“You want to learn?”

~~

Trying to show Iruka how to play shogi was not as successful as she had hoped it would be. He still wanted to play ninja, which she went with when he did, but when there weren’t any others to play it with… he would indulge her and try to learn the game. Obaa-san told her not to bully him and _she wasn't, dammit,_ but the game was calming. It was a great way to clear her head and focus on the then and there and present and…

“_Wow_ Ayame-chan, you’re _really_ good at this game.” Iruka made a face down at the pieces between them – Shikaku had helped Obaa-san find a cheap board and pieces that she walked around with in a little messenger-looking bag – and slowly moved his _keima_ on the thin board. It didn’t make the nice little clacking noise like it did when she played on Shikaku's board but she couldn’t find it in her to mind overmuch.

At least Iruka was willing to play with her.

~~

Obi-nii was home and tucked under his covers, head burrowed underneath, when Ayame got back from the park with Obaa-san in tow. Obaa-san who did **nothing** but look into his room with a frown and sad eyes and continue on into the kitchen. Ayame, however, was not accustom to seeing her beloved Obi-nii so _quiet_ and _still_ and decided to join him, regardless of the spare energy she could still feel the need to burn off pulsing just under her skin.

“Obi-nii?”

He didn’t answer her at first so she crept closer to his bed and tried again to catch his attention. That time he answered her. “Hey Aya-chan.” The tight little ball he was in under the sheets didn’t move but she could make out his muffled voice. “Did you have fun at the park?” She thought about answering him, letting him steer the conversation away from whatever was going on with him…

But she had never seen him like this before.

“What’s wrong?”

The quiet between them grew until it was nearly choking and she frowned herself before climbing up onto the bed beside him, leaning against him with her arms spread out to try and embrace as much of him as she could. Then she asked again.

“Do you know what the Sharingan is, Aya-chan?”

~~

“Ayame!” She braced herself, being very used to Iruka by then, and waited on him to finish the _strangle-hold _of a hug he had her in. She was patient and she didn’t mind it overmuch. Obaa-san was standing a ways behind her, with other parents and guardians, and she had been on the very outskirts of the gathering of kids before Iruka spotted her.

He was very glad he had it seemed.

“I can’t believe we get to start the Academy together,” He released her just far enough to grab her hand instead of keeping her in a hug. She let him, not seeing any harm in it. “This is going to be great! We're going to be the _best ninja **ever!**_” He pumped both fists in the air, one hand still clinging to her own and dragged it up too. She gave a little fist pump into the air with her free hand just to make him feel better.

“Do you think we're going to be in the same class?” Shikaku told her that, depending on how many kids were attending each year, there might be more than one starting class.

“I hope so,” His grip tightened around her fingers just a bit. “But you'll still train with me after school right?” Weeks before the Academy had begun, and their classes were sorted, Ayame had been taught about chakra. And she… wasn’t sure how to feel about it. It tingled along her skin, just underneath it, and felt like invisible goosebumps. Obaa-san said that the feeling would change or go away the more she used it but she found it…_ weird_.

She wasn’t sure if it was a good weird or a bad weird either.

Right after she had learned about her chakra and how it felt and how to move it around in her own body – which had suddenly seemed _much smaller_ than it was once she did – she shared her newfound knowledge with Iruka.

_And he loved it._

Together they got better and better at controlling the movement of their chakra, Ayame was making faster progress than Iruka was simply because of the feeling being so damn foreign – she hadn’t felt anything like it in her life from _Before_, not from what all she could remember of it. Iruka was improving, though.

_“Have fun!”_

__

__

__

__

_“Be careful!”_

_“Listen to your teacher!”_

Parents, and guardians too she supposed, were shouting after their kids and Ayame caught herself watching them for a bit, wondering who Iruka had come with, before the boy in question started to tug her towards the building. “Come on Ayame, let’s go.” She didn’t even fight his grip on her, momentarily remembering Shikaku's words from last year before putting them out of her mind.

She had a hyperactive friend to follow and lessons to learn.

~~

Iruka was not in her class. When they had done roll call for the first class, her name had been called before his because they had done it alphabetically but Iruka's hadn’t been called at all. It was enough to make her not want to talk for the rest of the day. “We'll have lunch together!” Iruka declared, wrapping his arms around her before her assigned teacher called for her class to follow him.

_She already disliked this place._

All of the kids in her class were **clan kids**. There was an Inuzuka boy, the clan markings _obvious_ as they moved with his cheeks as he grinned down at the puppy in his lap; a Yamanaka boy had his head ducked down and was fiddling with his fingers, pale blue eyes flickering around the room while the girl behind him fixed his long ash blond hair into a high ponytail; the Hyūga girl kept her eyes on her work, sightless-looking eyes fixed on ash blond hair; there was the Nara boy, with his _barely_-awake expression and droopy eyes, struggling to keep them open from his place in the center of the classroom; the Aburame girl in the heavily tinted sunglasses sat in the back, still and seemingly unbothered by the way people gave her a wide berth.

There were even a few from her own clan, their dark hair and eyes and natural pale beauty giving them away in a manner different from those of the Nara and Aburame clans. She took a seat at the end of the same table as the Aburame girl, nodding a polite hello as she did so. Even if she didn’t feel like talking, it was no reason to be_ rude_…

The teacher that they had was a tall man – in the way all adults were when compared to them – with greying hair and a goatee, wrinkles apparent from age present on his forehead and around his eyes. His name was Gurou-sensei and he would be their teacher for the remainder of the year. Ayame was not looking forward to it, having no great personal ambition to become a shinobi like the rest of the class.

She was there because it was _expected_… and Obi-nii asked her to _try_ – maybe she would like it _once she tried it_. Yeah, _sure_ she would.

~~

Ayame did **not like** the Academy. The introductions they made in class were expected, the reactions from a lot of them not so much. _Apparently_ there was a feud going on between her clan and several of the others, some greater than others, and Ayame felt like the last to hear about them. They were **four**; how big of a deal could it have been?

Uchiha and Hyūga apparently didn’t mix – neither did they mix with Senju or Inuzuka. Honestly, it eliminated half of the class if she thought about it.

And it was **stupid**. Why did old people get to tell them whether they could talk to one another or not? … why was she letting it?

~~

Iruka was the first thing on her mind once they were released for lunch and she grabbed her bag – bento inside – to go find him when her wrist was caught and her progress out of the room was halted. “Eat lunch with me.” He had light brown hair, short and spiky, and impossibly dark brown eyes – and he was very, very, familiar. His brows were pulled close and his mouth was tipped into a frown and – _he was one of the kids from the park, **before Iruka.**_

“I have plans.” Because she _did_. Tugging on her wrist, she began to frown herself whenever his grip just tightened and he started to pull her instead. “With _someone else_.” She wasn’t in the habit of picking fights… but if he thought she was just going to go along quietly when she didn’t want to then he could think again. She would punch him if pushed.

“With Iruka-kun?”

“Yes, now _let **go**_.” She didn’t wait on him to do so himself and just tugged harder to yank her wrist out of his grip. Not even bothering to wait on him to react, already irritated by the encounter, she ducked to the door and out of it as quickly as she could without outright running. Iruka was there waiting on her.

“What's going on?” She would have answered but she didn’t want Iruka to get tangled into the middle of the thing, the thing she still didn’t understand herself, so she grabbed his hand in her own and tugged him along with her; she didn’t want to eat inside. Not with that _other kid_ in the room. “Ayame?” He was confused, but it wasn’t unusual between the two of them at that point.

Mentally, he was his age – four – but she was… not.

“I want to eat outside.” She could only hope the words appeased him. And when he agreed with a quick grin, she knew it had. It was still a little warm outside, but cloudy, so they settled next to each other in front of a big tree. Lunch went by quickly, thanks to Iruka filling the silence with chatter about his classmates, but Ayame quickly realized that their classes were more different than she thought.

~~

“Why are teachers so _stupid_?” She was settled in Shikaku's lap, back pressed against his chest, as he leisurely dozed. Her homework for the week was spread out on the low table, long since completed, and she could only stare at it with distaste. Numbers came to her easily, as did her words and kanji had taken a bit but – nothing was really being taught.

Once he showed her how to do something, it was done if it wasn’t already something she knew.

“The Academy not enough of a challenge for you?” Obaa-san let her go to the Nara Compound while she went out to eat with a friend at one of the Akimichi BBQ places, telling her to be nice and polite and that she’d pick her up and bring home dinner. She frowned more at the sheets in front of her.

“No.”

~~

Nara Naoya walked with her today instead of her walking alone, both of them going to the Nara Compound. He was going home and she was going to see Shikaku for another game of shogi. He promised to play her for as long as she was bored at the Academy… and she was dying of boredom there.

Iruka would occupy her time, normally, but his parents had both taken the next few days off for the upcoming festival. _Good for him_, even if it did leave Ayame’s afternoons startlingly quiet.

“How do you know Shikaku-sama?” It was the first thing he'd said to her since lunch – when he walked up before she could escape out of the room and handed her a folded piece of paper and said he was told to walk her home today. She didn’t realize until then just how far up in the clan food-chain Shikaku was.

“He taught me how to play shogi.” Because he did. She was not going to mention how Obaa-san had snatched him up by his vest and had him help her out of a tree. “He plays with me sometimes when he’s not busy and Obaa-san lets me over.” Naoya-kun was a bit of a contradiction, he wouldn’t listen to Gurou-sensei in class but he’d listen to his clan head.

She found it easier to go along with certain things instead of arguing against them.

~~

“Ah, Ayame-chan,” Shikaku didn’t look overly surprised to see her, his home quickly becoming her new place to go after school when Iruka's parents were home – Obi-nii training more nowadays and only coming in when it was time for dinner. It would be about the time she got home either way. “Here for another game?” He yawned after he asked, both of them still standing on his porch, and she heard movement behind him.

“If you’re not busy,” His slow smirk had her hopes up and answered, he stepped just enough to the side that she could make her way in. There was a muted-dirty-blond man in the hallway, looking about as confused as she should have. But she had seen him walking with Shikaku through the village a few times before and knew they had to at least know one another well enough for him to be in Shikaku's house.

“This was one of my genin teammates, Yamanaka Inoichi,” Shikaku waved him off when he moved to open his mouth. “And this is Ayame-chan. She comes over to play shogi.”

“_Why?_”

Because it reminded her of another game – from _Before_ that she couldn’t remember clearly – but – “It's relaxing. And Shikaku doesn’t go easy on me just because I’m four.”

“He – _**What?**_” Inoichi-san – because she wasn’t in the habit of calling people by their family names – turned to Shikaku then with such a puzzled look on his face. She was getting better at reading faces since she started looking for cues in her opponents when playing shogi. Another reason she liked it; she could _normally_ tell when someone was lying to her. “She’s barely an _Academy student_, **why** would you –” He cut himself off and just gestured at her with flailing hands.

He was a little _weird_, was her second impression of him. The first was that he was too awake to be hanging around Shikaku. Her third was that he was noisy.

“Go ahead and set up the board, I’ll be right there.” She obediently pattered off to do as she was told and listened to Inoichi-san squawk out questions concerning her – and for Shikaku to give such vague answers in return that they didn’t really seem like answers.

She absently wondered if all genin teams acted like that.


	3. Chapter 3

“Want to come over to my house?” It was such an innocently asked question but it still gave her pause. They had been in school for a few months now and in that very short amount of time she had discovered the way people acted around one another purely because of some _pre-established social status_. It was _ridiculous_ but she could see it and she didn’t want to trouble Iruka by painting an imaginary target on his back for social climbers to attack.

“Will it be OK?” She had never met his parents before and wasn’t sure if they were like Iruka in the sense that he didn’t see a person and think of their clan first. He didn’t with her.

“Yeah! I was telling Okaa-chan about you and she said I should invite you over for dinner!” Iruka's enthusiasm was nearly contagious but Ayame still worried… she managed to smile a little at Iruka all the same, even if it was a little less like her usual fond look.

“I need to ask Obaa-san.” So Iruka decided to plan a dinner with his parents for tomorrow so she could get permission. “I could just walk home with you tomorrow after school.” They normally went to the park to sit against a tree, side-by-side, and work on their chakra – leaves stuck to their foreheads and arms and chests and flowing from one part of their bodies to another. It was one of the exercises she had taught Iruka that Obaa-san had taught her.

They could always do it at his house.

Iruka's happy cheer of confirmation said enough and the call of a nearby teacher signaled the end of lunch. Bento were hastily repacked, Ayame redid Iruka's while he was scrambling to his feet _and not looking_, and they both went inside together. Iruka snatched her up in an embrace before he disappeared down his hallway and she continued on her way to class.

Naoya-kun was standing by the door when she got close to it. “What’s going on?” Ayame wouldn’t say they were as close as her and Iruka but she had willingly gone along with him on several class assignments – when he wasn’t grouping up with Manami-chan – so she felt fine asking him questions.

He hadn’t disappointed her yet in answering.

“Gurou-sensei said he’s going to start us on taijutsu training today.” They were **four**, _and five and such_, so muscle memory was a _thing_ but… _seriously?_ They were barely out of the toddler-stages and their teacher was already pitting them against one another? What the hell type of Academy was this?

~~

Ayame's elbow still ached from when she had been set up against Manami-chan in a spar right after nearly wearing herself out with a lengthy spar against Shun-kun but she supposed that was part of the course. _She didn’t like it. _Obi-nii was going to be coming home later than usual, he had said that he was going to the clan training grounds to work on his shuriken throws, and that just left her and Obaa-san in the house. She wasn’t allowed to train with shuriken and kunai until the teachers started training them on it at the Academy so she stubbornly refused to join Obi-nii.

_Even though he would have handed her some to practice with if she had._

“Iruka asked me to come over.”

“Oh?” Obaa-san had known of Iruka nearly as long as Ayame had known him, there was no reason for her to say no.

~~

The only way Obaa-san was going to let her go over to Iruka's house was if she helped her fix dinner first, since she wouldn’t be there to do so tomorrow, and Ayame considered it fair enough that she accepted the money handed to her and went off towards the market. She had done this enough times with Obaa-san and Obi-nii that doing so by herself should have been simple enough.

And it should have been… if she hadn’t run into all the problems she did.

Like the _all-too-energetic_ older kid that had sped past her on her way home, knocking her groceries out of her hands and ruining half of them in the consecutive fall.

Or the way he had attempted to help her replace them only to get shouted at by the fruit-stall owner when he was a bit too helpful. Juggling apples between his hands – she hadn’t even _purchased_ any apples, she had bought oranges for Obi-nii's bento.

The boy talked in **Capitalization** and pure feelings, it was endearing and she was sure it was only because she wasn't like all the other kids their age. She could see how it wasn’t _entirely_ an act, not overly forced, how genuine it all was – even his **‘Most Manly’** tears during his apology.

Then she asked him how he had gotten so fast.

~~

Umino Ikkaku had… a _unique_ mustache. And his eyes were more narrow than Iruka's – Iruka had his hair color and a tad darker complexion. His eyes were all his mother's, as was the shape of his face, the angular set to his jaw and chin, the delicate slope of his nose, the fullness of his cheeks instead of his father's prominent cheek bones… She spent a lot of time comparing the three before his mother – Kohari-san – sent them both outside to play before dinner.

Ayame was so accustom to helping with the meal that it felt strange not to for once.

Ikkaku-san was apparently quite an expert in seals, something Iruka took great pride in telling her about as they took a detour to the outside and stopped in his father's study; just so Iruka could show off some of the stuff his dad had made and was starting to teach him but…

It was all so damningly _familiar…_

“Otou-chan said that he'd start teaching me how to seal paper next, once I can make a tag _without_ spilling the ink…” His voice trailed off at the end, a hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment and – _shit, he was so damn cute._ “You want to see one of my seals?” His enthusiasm was back, full force, and she couldn't say no to that damn grin; couldn’t even find a hint of want to do so.

“It's right over here!” The tag in question was funny-looking in a way she couldn’t completely explain, and when Iruka set it in front of him on the desk… Ayame didn’t understand what he was doing until he slapped a hand down on top of it and said, _“Watch this!”_

~~

The hospital staff had finally left her alone once she threatened to bite the next nurse to put hands on her and they got a snap of teeth to accompany the threat. Ikkaku-san sitting down beside her did not help calm her nerves any – no one was telling her anything about Iruka.

“He’s going to be alright,” A breath left her in a heavy exhale and she felt herself sagging a little at the pure relief that went over her. Her eyes were still a little scratchy and she would rather not think about what all it meant. The nurses kept glancing at her and she didn’t like it. “It was just a deep cut, nothing serious, and they did manage to stop the bleeding.”

“Are they going to keep him here?” It had been _a lot_ of blood and she could still feel herself shaking from the adrenaline that shot through her when the tag practically _exploded_ with a large shuriken when Iruka disabled it. Her eyes hadn’t stopped itching since they got to the hospital and one of the nurses wiped blood off her face.

“No; they’re putting some bandages on him now, to help with the healing, and he’ll be coming home with us.” _‘Help with the healing’_ translated to _‘it wasn’t fully healed’_ and Ayame felt like curling up into a ball at the thought of not having been fast enough to move Iruka completely out of the way in time. He still got hurt…

“I’m sorry.”

“No,” Ikkaku-san placed his hand on top of her head and she could feel the heat seeping from him. “An accident can happen at any time and this was an accident._ It was not your fault._”

“Then why does it feel like it is?” She hoped he hadn’t heard her say as much but was spared – _in a way_ – from him answering by the arrival of both Obaa-san and Fugaku-sama, their clan head. It had to have been her fault if he was there too…


	4. Chapter 4

The home of the clan head was situated in nearly the center of the compound_-that-wasn't-really-a-compound_, the high branch families spread out around them in a show of power Ayame was unused to seeing and didn’t enjoy. Everything about the main body of the clan grounds set her on edge, always had, and it was made all the worse by the fact that Fugaku-sama had told Obaa-san to go home because he wanted to speak with her alone.

Her – Ayame.

Together, Fugaku-sama keeping a loose hold on her shoulder to help steer her in whichever direction they were going in, they entered his home and, from there, went to his study in the back of the house; she only knew what it was because it would’ve been hard to explain it as anything else.

“Do you mind telling me what happened today, Ayame-chan?” She did mind, she _really, **really, **_did. She didn’t want to talk about, it still made her feel like crying when she thought about it – _Kami,_ she almost lost** Iruka**.

“Iruka invited me over to dinner.” It was a start to the story she didn’t even want to tell, even if he _was _clan head.

“Was this the first time you have been invited over?” Her nod was a bare motion but she supposed he caught it by the way he continued. “You and Iruka-kun must be very close.”

“He’s my friend.” Her only _real _friend, her _best friend _if she thought about it, the only one she spent any real amount of time with of her own volition that wasn’t Obi-nii or Shikaku.

“I can tell; you must care about him very much.” Another barely-there nod to answer a question she didn’t think needed to be asked. The cushion he had her settle on was more comfortable than it should have been and Fugaku looked far too at ease across from her, even if his severe frown never shifted. “What happened after you left the Academy?”

_What an odd question._ “We normally go to the park…”

“Which park?”

“The one with the swings and slides and the wide field of wildflowers.” It was the same one they had been going to since near infancy – _and why did it sound like she was being interrogated? _She wished Shikaku was there with her. Fugaku-sama rolled his wrist in a manner that said_ ‘go on’_ and she found herself saying, “But we went straight to his house today.”

“Was that the first time you met his family?” His eyes never left her and she found her own gaze traveling down to her laced hands, resting in her lap, and nodded. “Even though you have known one another for years, correct?”

“We met at the park; Ikkaku-san would drop him off to play and Obaa-san would bring me there. He hasn’t really met Obaa-san either but she says it's fine.” She was always reading or writing in her little journal back then, just happy that she finally had a playmate, but it was alright. There was still time… if Iruka still wanted to be her friend.

“You met his parents then. Both of them?” A nod. “Then what happened?”

“Iruka wanted to show me a seal he had made,” The closer they were getting to the actual event, the more tense she got. Her shoulders were starting to hurt from the strain she was putting on them. Tense, _tense, **tense**_; oh, how they _ached_. “He… he said –”

“Take a breath, Ayame-chan,” Fugaku-sama cut her off, prompting her to automatically do as he said. “Iruka-kun is alright; you know that he is alright; his parents are taking him home now.”

“**It was all my fault!**” The words weren’t loud but they were said in a rush and an exhale and she hurried to keep going before she lost the will to say it all now. “The seal looked funny and I didn’t say anything,_ I don’t even know if that was how it was supposed to look_, but then Iruka was pushing chakra into it, and_ I taught him that_, and – and,” The dam was flooded and overflowing and she started crying and couldn’t seem to stop. “And I wasn’t _fast enough_ to move Iruka out of the way before the shuriken cut him and there was just _so much blood _and… Iruka was crying and I think he had screamed before I grabbed him but,” Her sobs were starting to hurt, her eyes too, and she didn’t even think Fugaku-sama could understand her anymore.

She wanted Shikaku. _She wanted Iruka. **She wanted Obi-nii.**_

“That’s enough Ayame-chan,” A hand on her head had her flinch and still, her sob skipping before resuming, and Ayame stubbornly kept herself from looking up at him. “Did anything look blurry after you moved Iruka-kun?”

She knew the only way he would know she nodded was because of his hand still being on her head, his seat having changed from being across from her to beside her. “Everything was fuzzy until we got to the hospital.”

“I need to tell you why that is.” She nodded again, reaching up with both hands to scrub at her cheeks and eyes to get the itching feeling of rolling and drying tears off her face. “Has your grandmother told you anything about the Sharingan?”

~~

She was currently the youngest member of the clan to have ever activated their Sharingan, something Fugaku-sama commended her on, but she still didn’t care. It was a high honor, something not every member was even capable of doing and showed that she would do great things in the future – and she still _didn’t care_.

She wanted Shikaku. _She wanted Iruka. **She wanted Obi-nii.**_

Fugaku-sama finally sent her home – after explaining what the Sharingan was and what it could do and what it meant for her now that she possessed one – and Ayame stayed curled up on top of her bed, ignoring the knocking at her door. Iruka should be at home right about then.

“Ayame? Do you need anything?”

Shikaku –_ Iruka –** Obi-nii.**_

She rolled away from the door and closed her eyes, hoping that if she pretended long enough, if she slept for long enough, that she would wake up and find out it was all just a terrible dream.

~~

“Aya-chan? Are you awake?” Obi-nii; not a dream. She gripped his shirt white-knuckled between her fingers and could feel herself start to shake as he pulled her close. “It’s OK, it's OK; I’m here.” If she had her other two important people then she’d be fine – more than fine. She would probably sleep pleasantly as opposed to not at all.

Or nightmares…

“’Baa-san said you got your Sharingan,” _No, no, no, no_; she didn’t want to hear that. She let go of him to cover her ears and curl tighter against him – not wanting his words but his comfort. He seemed to get the idea because he squeezed her a little tighter against him. “That’s OK; we can talk later.” Laying his head against her own, he seemed to move around her until he went still as well.

She was able to get a few restless hours of sleep thanks to him.

~~

Still no word from Iruka; he never showed up at school the next day and she found herself scanning the area as she stood outside the building the day after. So maybe she was an hour earlier than normal – she just wanted to make sure he was alright with her own eyes.

A ponytail, dark brown in color, started to bob over the horizon and she felt herself straining on her tiptoes to see further… but it wasn’t him. Ikkaku-san had said he was fine, that he was still healing, and Ayame had believed him. Did he lie to her? Was Iruka really alright?

“**Ayame!**” Stupor broken, thoughts halted, tan skin – ponytail – brown eyes – bright smile – arms so very warm wrapped around her. **Iruka. **Her grip was a vice around him, scared to let him go, scared to let him close to anything even faintly shinobi related. She couldn’t let anything happen to him – not Iruka – not her best friend. “Otou-san said I’m banned from sealwork until my cut is healed.” He let her hold him and pat at her back as he spoke.

He smelled like waterlillies and wet dirt and old paper… and medicine, laid just on top of the scents that made him unique.

“Did you miss me?”

“_Yes._” He laughed at the way her grip tightened on him at the mumbled admission and she sighed at how normal he was acting.

“It was pretty scary, huh?” She hoped her silence was enough to answer that. “Otou-san and Okaa-san said that sometimes a shinobi makes a mistake and they get hurt.” She had heard this all before. “And that the true depth of their strength rested in whether or not they would let the mistake define them.”

Silence rose between them for a bit. “I don’t really know what that means,”_ How very accurate for a five-year-old. _“But I think it means I shouldn’t give up just because I messed up.” That was _exactly_ what that meant and Ayame felt her chest constrict at the thought of Iruka around another seal.

_Or shuriken._

“I’ll be there, too.” Like fuck she was going to let him be around all this shinobi business without being there to protect him. “I'll get faster so that next time you mess up you won’t get hurt at all, because I’ll be there to stop it.” She gave him another squeeze before pulling back a little, glancing around at the lingering student body that slowed their paths into the school to watch the two of them.

Ayame did_ not _enjoy being the center of attention.

“We'll be the best shinobi ever!” Iruka fist pump into the air and grinned that Obito-grin at her and she would have suffered through a thousand more stares to keep the look there. “Come on! We’re going to be late to class if we just stand around!” That was frankly _impossible_, with how early the both of them had arrived, but Ayame let him grab her hand and tug her towards the Academy anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

Her schedule changed again. She could barely find time to train with Iruka anymore, the awakening of her Sharingan meaning that someone within the clan now had to train her on it – which happened directly after school when she normally trained with Iruka. Fugaku-sama was there for her first lesson, standing on the back porch of one of their clanmate's houses on the other side of the village, observing as she ducked and dodged punches and kicks with her eyes only _sometimes_ activating.

They apparently wanted her to use them_ all the time_, but using the Sharingan made her eyes feel weird, like staring at a TV for too long. Everything was in high definition and was just a few seconds too fast, _but moving so slow_. Everything seemed to move in some weird type of slow-motion, even herself, and she _hated_ it. It was like being underwater and trying to run but only she could see it.

Her trainer was more laid-back than most of the others in the clan, with his benign grin and soft curls, and claimed to be her cousin, through her father, but never fully elaborated how. It wasn’t as if she had asked him to either. She could have been training with Iruka instead of stressing her eyes. 

And she reminded Shinjiro-sensei of that _every time_ he asked if there was something else she could be doing.

~~

“Have you learned any new techniques?” Iruka grinned at her as he tucked himself against her side during lunch, his bento stacked neatly beside her own. Naoya-kun had joined them today, leaning back against the tree they usually claimed and seemed to be napping. Ayame _almost_ thought to jab his side to check, with how still he was.

“They said I can’t talk about it,” And it was true, Fugaku-sama had told her that she couldn’t discuss clan matters with outsiders – like Iruka. And she _hated_ it; she couldn’t very well find out more about things if she asked most people in her own clan, they told her she would know _when the time was right_ and it was infuriating.

If they were expecting Obaa-san to tell her, they were out of luck on that.

“That’s OK, I guess.” Iruka had been glued to her side, in a manner of speaking, since the incident – though only during school hours and when she wasn’t having to go straight home to train on her Sharingan. Not that she needed much more training since Shinjiro-sensei had said she was doing exceptionally well and most of the advanced techniques unique to her Sharingan were up to her to train later on when it advanced. “Are you going home again today?” He was really asking if she was going to be able to hang out with him and she was pleased to be able to tell him that she could.

“Naoya-kun, would you like to come with us to the park?” She wasn’t in the habit of inviting others, she generally didn’t because of not liking crowds, but Naoya-kun was easy to overlook, not overbearing, and generally just wanted to nap. She could respect that. Iruka leaned against her more as he peered around her to look at the dozing Nara.

The very same one that cracked open one eye to grunt an affirmative at them both before resuming his nap. Typical.

“What are we going to do today?” Iruka was resting against her, head leaning heavily against her own, as he asked and Ayame took his weight silently. He was so _warm_…

“Balance. Chakra exercises. There should be a way to combine the two.” She was thinking out loud there at the end and watched a few clouds pass by as she thought more. “Maybe Shikaku knows a way to combine them.”

“Don’t you think it will be too advanced for us right now? We _are_ still Academy students.” Naoya-kun rumbled out, voice thick with sleep, and Ayame considered his words briefly before answering.

“They are teaching us to defend ourselves and to fight but only offering the most basic of control courses; seems rather silly.” It was her way of saying the chakra parts of their education should have been expanded, in her opinion. If it was too advanced for them to be learning, Shikaku would tell her himself.

“So, are we going to go see Shikaku-sama after school first?” Naoya-kun asked, yawning halfway through. Her nod was answer enough, even though the question was more rhetorical at that point than anything. Naoya-kun knew her well when it came to his clan head.

~~

Shikaku _did_ have an idea on how to combine a balancing exercise with a chakra manipulation one – and he _did_ think it was too advanced for regular Academy students. But he didn’t consider the three of them to be regular Academy students. Well, _maybe Iruka_ but he must have known she would have shown him later anyway.

Focusing their chakra on the bottoms of their feet, or the palms of their hands, and using them to stick to surfaces. Too much chakra would damage whatever they were on, be it a tree or a wall of fence, yet too little chakra and the sticking part wouldn’t work. Ayame took to it well, Naoya-kun had a few hiccups at first before starting to stick to his selected tree, Iruka…

Iruka was doing his best, she was sure.

“Do you need help?” She always asked Iruka before doing so, knowing no one appreciated someone helping them with training unless it was asked first. Some purposely put themselves through hardships just to make the training more difficult.

~~

“We should ask if anyone else wants to train with us,” Iruka laid on his back, arms tossed out on either side on him, with the top of his head pushed up against her hip; she was laying down too, being used as a convenient pillow for Naoya-kun – whose head was on her opposite thigh.

“Sounds _bothersome_; how about we _don't._” Naoya-kun replied without missing a beat, whining shortly in the back of his throat after Iruka swatted a hand blindly in his direction – arm flailing over her lap. “Rude.”

“Why don’t we invite a few from both classes?” She didn’t generally like people, the ones around her right then – _plus Obi-nii_ – were more than enough, but she could see the training-benefit to adding others to their group. Even Naoya-kun couldn’t complain overmuch about the compromise, even if it would mean he did have to get off his ass for more than a few minutes.

“Yeah!” Iruka seemed to be the only one enthused about it, she noted, flatly ignoring the look of betrayal Naoya-kun sent her.

~~

Iruka ended up bringing more people than she thought, even if the number was still in the single digits. He brought three from his class, while she and Naoya-kun each brought two; which wasn’t surprising since Iruka was the more friendly one of the three of them. A little ray of sunshine everywhere he went in her opinion.

Yamanaka Kyō almost started to sneer when Inuzuka Shun barked – literally – out a greeting to the three non-clan kids Iruka brought to their little gathering. Aburame Tomoko was speaking a polite hello to the two girls while Hyūga Manami fluttered her hands around the ashy-blond in hopes of calming him. Ayame was beginning to think Naoya-kun was right to not want others to join them.

Musuyo Manae and Shizuka Haruhi were the two girls Iruka brought from his class, he sat between them during lectures, and Haruto Ryota was his sparring partner for all their taijutsu lessons; they were all from shinobi families, apparently, but none of them were _clan kids_. Ayame found the system a little weird that they were in different classes for that sole reason.

Maybe it was more complicated than that but it was the only obvious reason she could find.

Naoya-kun brought Kyō-san, who he had known through his mother since infancy, and Manami-san, who tagged along when Kyō-san mentioned it; she invited Tomoko-san, from her homeroom and shared kunoichi class, and Shun-san, who she invited after taijutsu practice that day.

Honorifics were overrated in her opinion, too, but she didn’t drop them for anyone other than Shikaku, Iruka, and Obi-nii.

Teaching seven kids, her own physical age, things that were a bit above their skill level in the Academy was trying – because she was the only one that was doing the teaching. Naoya-kun opted out the moment they explained what they were doing and Iruka was still getting the hang of it. She was the only one left then.

Joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're slowly getting closer to the end of part one, people! I'm so excited!


	6. Chapter 6

Shinjiro-sensei was giving her another test on her eyes, his wife leaving him in charge of their toddler son meant that her training was going to be more stationary than it normally was. His son, being just shy of four-years-old, had his curls and laughing eyes with his mother's _enviable_ dramatic lashes and narrow chin; he was also the only toddler she had ever been in close contact with in this life.

Shi-chan was also her new favorite cousin, replacing his father in her rankings easily, and seemed fascinated by her longer hair and flickering eyes.

“Come on, Shisui-kun,” Shinjiro-sensei tried to coax. “Don’t you think it’ll be a lot more fun playing inside with all your toys?” Shi-chan, as she affectionately began to call him, was immovable in her lap, curled around her with his head tucked against her chest and eyes narrowed suspiciously at his father. Ayame somehow managed to keep a neutral expression on her face and not laugh at the situation.

“No.”

“Ah, but Ayame-chan has to finish her training,”

“_No._”

“We'll all come inside for dinner later, Shisui-kun, but –”

“**_No._**” The stare down seemed to grow in intensity for a few moments, her continuing to watch with Sharingan eyes activated, before Shi-chan spoke again. “My ‘yami-nee.”

_Adorable._

~~

Obi-nii had graduated the Academy last year and got to become a full-fledged shinobi. She remembered the celebration Obaa-san had thrown, having told Ayame to help, and how excited he had been when he came home with the metal headband clutched in his hand. He was only nine.

The teacher in her homeroom class pulled her aside when it was time to go to her kunoichi class and claimed that she had a makeup test to take before the day was over. Confused at having one, _since she had never missed a day_, but uncaring to refuse it, _since they were never difficult tests to begin with_, Ayame finished the test – a couple of sheets thick – in front of the teacher in under half an hour.

She still managed to catch the last short lecture of the class before lunch, which she ate nestled between Iruka and Naoya-kun under the big tree in front of the Academy.

Gurou-sensei called her to the front of the classroom, when they got back from taijutsu class later, and announced that she was graduating early and her sensei would be arriving shortly.

The class applauded, some politely and others with hoots, but Ayame could only see the Obi-nii in her mind's eye – remembering how much he complained about a boy in his class that had graduated in a year and –

“Ayame-chan, take this paper with you to the Hokage when you leave,” Paper in hand, she was sent outside to wait on her sensei to arrive – _her new genin sensei_ – so that class could continue. She didn’t want to graduate early. Didn’t they need permission? Obaa-san or Fugaku-sama? Did they approve this? _What would Obi-nii think of her now_ – 

“Uchiha Ayame,” Her attention focused on the shinobi she had only halfway noticed entering the hallway. “Follow me.” He had the same pale pupilless eyes that Manami-san did, which told her no more than that he was a member of the Hyūga Clan, and long-_long_ black hair that was straight and silky looking. The frown on his face was slight as he turned and walked away from her so she hurried to follow, two-stepping to each of his one.

The frown was from displeasure not impatience so she kept quiet the whole walk.

“Good afternoon, Ayame-chan,” After waiting in stiff chairs outside his office, Ayame and the Hyūga entered the Hokage's office without fanfare. He smiled down at her, crow's feet deeply formed around his eyes and laugh lines just beginning to show around his mouth; his eyes weren’t laughing though and that kept her tone polite and pointed.

“Hello Hokage-sama.”

“I do not think this is the best decision, Hokage-sama,” Her companion’s add-on kept her quiet and she watched as they spoke. “You know of the rift between our clans.”

“Yet I cannot give her to just anyone and your clan is full of dōjutsu users that are well trained in not wanting their eyes to fall into enemy hands.” The Hyūga deepened his frown and Ayame tried to keep herself from looking around, the feel of foreign chakra twitching her senses from above and around her. It was the feel of eyes on her that bothered her more than the conversation just then.

A knock interrupted them.

Fugaku-sama joined them next, his eyes slightly narrowing when he took notice of her standing beside the Hyūga, but he stepped opposite of him and joined the conversation seamlessly. “I suppose having another Uchiha train her is out of the question.” He didn’t sound as if he was expecting a positive answer, either.

“As much as it would please you, not even we are allowed such.”

“She is, thus far, the youngest child in the clan to have ever activated their Sharingan and to have ever used it with such ease,” Fugaku-sama drew himself up straighter – not that he was slouching to begin with. “I do not want her continued advancement hindered by the teachings of just anyone.”

“Which is why I have asked the two of you here,” The Hokage cut in before the talk could truly turn into an argument, which it would have if the way they were facing one another indicated anything. “Hizashi-san, how do you feel about teaching her instead of one of your clanmates?” Silence lasted only a moment.

“Me?”

“Him? He is the clan head's brother, practically a second head himself with how divided the branches are in the Hyūga Clan. He is –”

“Standing right here and can speak for himself, _thank you_.” The Hyūga, Hizashi-san, cut in sharply before facing the Hokage more fully. “I am no Jōnin-sensei, I have had no experience teaching children.”

“Ayame-chan is no normal child, as I’m sure Fugaku-san will agree. She is considered a prodigy among her peers and has quite the mind for strategies, if I have heard correctly, from playing shogi with our very own Shikaku-san.” She didn’t see what the big deal was about that, she never won.

But now all three of them were staring at her.

“How long have you been playing shogi, Ayame-chan?” Fugaku-sama was the one to ask so she answered.

“Shikaku taught me how when I was two.” She knew, somehow, that it was considered strange or abnormal to learn such a game at such a young age but… she did. And she liked it, even if she only ever won against Iruka. “He said,” She looked at each of the men in the room and only continued when Fugaku-sama nodded for her to do so. “He said it would help me stay focused instead of just meditating. I never win, though.”

She wasn’t sure why she added the last bit in, _nervousness probably_, but she did… not that she thought it swayed whatever silent conversation they were having.

“What do you think, Ayame-san?” Hyūga Hizashi was the one to ask her a question next and she blinked at him, wondering momentarily what he was talking about. “Would you prefer a member of your clan to teach you?”

“What difference would it make?” She asked instead, blinking again as she gathered her thoughts about her, mouth twisting some as she thought. “I already had one teaching me to use my Sharingan and he claimed there was nothing more for him to teach me on it – the Uchiha Clan techniques are something that will come with time and tutelage, but it does not have to come from whoever becomes my Jōnin-sensei because I have my clan available whenever I am home.”

She shifted from one foot to another because they were all staring at her and she was beginning to feel the weight of their gazes more than the invisible ones around the room. “Obi-nii promised to teach me the Great Fireball technique the next time he had a free day from his sensei… and this is Konoha.” The Hokage looked like the only one who wasn’t confused by that. “We are all Konoha shinobi – and kunoichi – and that should matter more than what clan one person is from.” Hizashi-san looked more interested and less confused then. “I don’t mind who my sensei is.”

She didn’t even _want_ to graduate but it didn’t look like that was not going to happen. 

“I’ll take her.” Fugaku-sama didn’t even object to the words, just looked between her and Hizashi-san – her new _sensei_, Hizashi-_sensei_ – before nodding his head.

“The papers, Hokage-sama,” He signed something with a quick flourish, the scratch of the pen against the sheet loud in the room, before stepping back and gesturing at it for Hizashi-sensei to step up to. “I am trusting you with an exceptional member of my clan.”

“She will be safe with me.” He didn’t even sound offended by the remark and just barely inclined his head towards Fugaku-sama, more a show of acknowledging him as Clan Head than actual respect. “You may call me Hizashi-sensei. Report to Training Ground Eleven in ten minutes.” A clear dismissal and one she was actually happy to follow; with a bow towards first Fugaku-sama then to Hokage-sama, she left the office and only started to power-walk once she closed the door behind her.

To keep the Academy clear from any mishaps and from curious students to wander into training fields already in use and dangerous, a majority of the training grounds were a distance from both the Academy and the Hokage Tower… which had her breaking into a sprint once she cleared the tower, using the chakra skills Shikaku had only just started her on to run along walls and directly under awnings to avoid traffic and get where she needed to be.

She made it in under ten minutes, with Hizashi-sensei already there and waiting.

~~

“Tell me something about yourself,” Hizashi-sensei had them both sitting in the middle of the field, distant chakra buzzing over her arms but not distracting her, as they spoke. “Anything at all that I should know about you since we are in this together.”

“I didn’t want to graduate early.” She didn’t want to graduate_ at all_ but she knew Iruka did and she was not going to see him out there on his own when he could get hurt and she wouldn’t be able to help him. “I wanted to graduate with the rest of my class.” And she didn’t want Obi-nii to look at her with the same look he had whenever he talked about the one that graduated early out of his own class.

“I miss Iruka and Naoya-kun,” Even though the lazy ass was probably celebrating now that she wasn’t there to actually make him do exercises. “I hope I’m going to have time with Obi-nii now that I’m not in the Academy.” _She also hopes that he’ll still want to be around her._ “I wish I had been given a choice in graduating instead of it being decided for me.” At least then, she would have had time to prepare herself and everyone else before deciding.

Shikaku would have questioned her, to make sure she was ready and that it was what_ she_ wanted – Iruka would have been happy for her and so-_so _excited that she was going to be a kunoichi early; he’d ask her to train with him now that she was official, even though she had been training with him for _years_ – Obi-nii…

“I was unaware you did not wish to graduate,” Hizashi-sensei observed her, head marginally tilted and mouth tipping downwards. “Did no one inform you beforehand?”

She shook her head in the negative and listened to his sigh.

“How old are you?”

“Six.”

Another sigh. “That is awfully young.” She couldn’t argue so she didn’t. “I will not lie to you; events are tense in the shinobi world and the village cannot afford to coddle its prodigies. There may come a point in time that the village will call you, and me, to the front lines in the name of Konoha.” That sounded an awful lot like…

“War?” Here? _With Konoha?_ Why?

“The announcement went out amongst jōnin this week, that there are conflicts rising between other villages, the whole village will know by the end of the month, if that.” _Shikaku – Iruka – Obi-nii –_ “It was more the reason for your advancement than desire to push you through the Academy quickly.” It was a nice thought but one she kept quiet on. War meant Obi-nii possibly being sent out, too, since he was a genin and Obi-nii might have to fight,_ to kill_, and she just –

“Please take care of me.” She had to protect Obi-nii and Iruka and she couldn’t let down Shikaku and… War. What was wrong in the world?

~~

Hizashi-sensei was not a very talkative man, which was good. She didn’t need someone to fill the silence anymore; she enjoyed the quiet between them when it happened. It was often quiet around them, too, since they both understood their roles well.

Their _Get-To-Know-Each-Other_ talk ended shortly after the subject matter turned to the possibility of war, with Hizashi-sensei telling her that he loved his brother, his family and clan, and his village and that he had never even considered teaching before being given her.

She understood all too well and they moved on to training next. Or, more to say, she was training. Hizashi-sensei was coaxing her through drills and practice dummies to gauge where she was in abilities and techniques so he would know what she needed to work and improve on.

Her chakra control was good, as came with being a kunoichi it seemed, and her taijutsu was good, for it being a mostly Academy-style. He was surprised to find her already tree walking and mentioned taking the next step up from there. Her aim was good, her knowledge of the twelve hand seals were good –

_Good, good, good, **good **_– She was sick of hearing it already.

Her stamina needed expanding, he noted at the end of the session. And her strength, the raw sort, needed to be built on. He wanted to expand her ninjutsu knowledge so she would know more than a few Uchiha-traditional fire techniques. Her ninjutsu would be fine, _her eyes would make certain of that_, he remarked, and he would test her intelligence after dinner – which she was going to join him for before following him home to play shogi.

She probably wouldn’t see Obi-nii until tomorrow…

~~

Night descended in the way it always did, in a quiet way that constantly surprised those that weren’t expecting it; like Ayame, for instance. Hizashi-sensei had a shogi board set up at his home, within the Hyūga Clan Compound, after dinner at an Akimichi-owned restaurant, and they had enough time for two games – which she lost both – before she noticed the time.

“Obaa-san will be worried.” Not to mention Obi-nii; she never missed a dinner.

“Before you go, take this.” Hizashi-sensei stood when she did, but pulled something out of his pocket. Navy fabric, metal band – she recognized it for what it was. “It is a bit belated, but congratulations on passing Ayame-chan.”

She tied it around her bicep, like an armband, like Shikaku, before leaving. 

~~

Obi-nii was asleep at the table when she finally got home, head pillowed on his arms and snores heard; Obaa-san was just lifting a plate when she caught sight of her. “He wanted to wait up.” She explained with a nod in her Obi-nii’s direction.

They made miso ramen and karaage, though it was doubtlessly cold by now. Obi-nii's bowl was still full, just like his small plate, so she felt a little pool of ice settle into her chest. She hadn't come home like he did because she had been a special case with a special sensei. _Genin were teams of three not one. She wasn’t ready…_

“Aya-chan?”

“Obi-nii,” His eyes were bleary, and his headband was sitting on his forehead crooked-like, but he rubbed a fist against one while the other blinked at her and where she stood in the doorway. “I graduated.”

“Congrats!” He chirped the word, a bit more awake than a moment ago. “I _knew_ you could do it!” He held out a thumb's up, that she stared at for a second, before looking back at the table – and _squawking_. “Aw shit! The food got cold!” He went on, talking about how he had to run to the market to make sure he got everything several times because he wanted to surprise her when she got home and…

“You’re not upset?” She heard the wobble in her own voice and hated it, felt the tightening in her throat and the burning in her eyes and she had tried so hard to make him proud. She just – 

“Why would I – ” Obi-nii looked, confused?

“Sorry,” She dragged her hands over her face and struggled to keep her itchy eyes from watering. Struggled even harder to keep the knot in her throat from making her voice warble as she said, “I’m late.” He wasn’t upset or mad or telling her not to talk to him again and she’d take whatever good thing she could from the situation.

Obi-nii laughed at her, he was normally the late one after all, but she slid into her seat at the table as Obaa-san heated up the miso and karaage. She was more than content to listen to him chatter and fill the house with noise.

It was nice to be home.


	7. Chapter 7

_Shikaku – Iruka – Obi-nii._ She had to get faster, stronger, to protect her precious people.

Hizashi-sensei was more than willing to help her do so, taking her to see Fugaku-sama after training one late afternoon to ask for weights, since he remained adamant about keeping up-to-date on her progress. Building general muscle was just as important as knowing how to enhance it with chakra, after all.

Obi-nii learned how to do that in the Academy and she was having to learn it from Hizashi-sensei – she was going to miss that lesson because of it being taught to third-years in their second semester. She was going to miss _a lot_ of lessons because of that and had to rely on Hizashi-sensei to teach her it all.

Like the _Henge-no-jutsu_ and _Bunshin-no-jutsu_. Her current everyday tasks included strength training in the early hours, building up muscles; she was then moved on to chakra exercises, to build up her reservoirs and expand them for later use – Hizashi-sensei explained that the younger she started doing so, the easier it was to do – and she climbed countless trees and went through new katas dangling _upside-down_ from branches.

After a short break for lunch, which she brought a bento for, they moved on to techniques or sparring. Every few days, Hizashi-sensei would have her spar with him so that he could gauge her progress – would decrease time spent doing one activity to expand on another.

Once a week, however, she was given a free day.

Free days spent with Iruka, _if he wasn’t in the Academy_, or Shikaku, _if he wasn’t working_, or Obi-nii, _if he wasn’t busy with his own team_. But, when they were all busy, she would read.

Senju Tobirama was her favorite author, even if his texts were a little more complex than what she was going for; he was also her favored Hokage, despite the flaws she could see in some of his thoughts and actions.

“Uchiha Ayame.” When everyone was busy and she was left alone, Ayame would read in the field she had always visited, since her first trip out of the house, where she first met both Shikaku and Iruka, tucked under a Hashirama tree for shade. It was where she was when a man walked up to her – _shinobi_, even if he had a cane, with intelligent eyes and bandages. “Belated congratulations on your early graduation.”

She never felt him walk up. “Thank you.” A cursory glance around showed they were alone; _unacceptable_. “Do you require anything of me?”

“Interesting choice of words,” His expression never changed once, even as he blinked at her and his fingers flexed against the cane's handle. “You are an exceptionally bright young kunoichi and you have potential in your future service to Konoha.” Something about what he said made the voice in the back of her head snarl but she kept from showing it.

“I hope I can be of service to my village.” She answered carefully, but honestly.

“I am Shimura Danzō,” The Sandaime’s teammate and a member of the village council. He was a very powerful man, politically. She knew nothing of his fighting capabilities; _unacceptable_. “And I am the one in charge of a special group of shinobi called Root.” The voice in her head was screaming now and her nerves were starting to rise because of it. “Your admittance to the group will lead to great victories for Konoha and her people.”

_Wrong. Wrong. **Wrong.**_ And she couldn’t even see what it was that made everything he said so _wrong_.

“What is Root?” It was a good question, she thought, even as her head started to ache.

“We are the unseen ones who support the great tree of Konoha from the depths of the earth.” Sounded routine, his tone didn’t change much, and he seemed to believe what he said… _but…_ “Our job is to eliminate those that seek to harm Konoha without being seen.”

Assassins? No… there was more to it than that; he would have said so if that was all they were…

“I would like you to join.”

“I have a sensei.” _Hizashi-sensei._ He would have mentioned it to her if he thought she would be good for it, right?

“That doesn’t matter. I can simply have you pulled from his tutelage and into mine. Root has done this before; it is all for Konoha.”

_No. No. No. No._

“May I have time to think on this offer?” Be nice, be polite, emit calm and cool and collected and – **she wanted Shikaku.**

“Not long I would think. I will find you again. Think very seriously on my offer, for when you join you must give yourself to Root, and to Konoha, completely.”

**Shikaku – Hizashi-sensei – **she needed someone.

A quiet agreement had her standing and leaving her little sanctuary, Shimura-san watching her go. Her steps were even and steady, her fingers were careful to only hold her text loosely and not crush it in her grip, her head was only partly tilted down so that she could watch her steps. Ayame _did not_ like him, every nerve in her body said so, and she didn’t know _why_. He was respected and powerful and she should be honored to be considered to join his force.

_But…_

“Ayame-chan?” Shikaku looked a little confused to see her across from his desk, a little crease forming between his brows as she shuffled closer and hugged her book to her chest. She didn’t want to start shaking while there was still someone watching… “It's alright; I'll take it from here.” The jōnin that escorted her in left and the shakes were becoming unmanageable and visible.

“What is Root?” Ayame left the question in the air, fixing her gaze to a spot on his desk that kept her from having to look at him. She didn’t know why to that, either.

“You tell me,” Shikaku leaned back in his chair and just watched her, a frown forming. She didn’t want that.

“I was offered a position in Root by Shimura-san.” It was true, and she wasn’t sure why it bothered her so much. “He said he could take me from Hizashi-sensei and that when, _not if_, I join, I'll have to give everything I am to Konoha…” His phrasing set her on edge, her nerves tightening and telling her that something was wrong with it, and she needed someone to tell her that she wasn’t imagining these things. They weren't all in her head.

Someone else had to see it too…_ right?_

“I don’t want to join.”

“Alright,” Shikaku leaned forward and scooted his chair back with a quiet scrape against the floor; the room looked a little darker than it had earlier. “We're going to go to Hizashi-san and you’re going to tell him exactly what you just told me. No one's going to take you, Ayame-chan.” She found him in front of her then, arms a firm presence around her with hands pressed firmly at her sides and face in front of her own, his eyes were hard steel wrapped in copper and she found herself curling into him without thought; her book pressed between them and her arms around his neck.

She didn’t know how they got to Hizashi-sensei without leaving the room, feeling something tug at her spine before her sensei's voice asked what they were doing. Still clutching Shikaku's vest in one hand, she told him what had just happened the same way she did to Shikaku.

The more upset he got, the more at ease she became. _Good, **good;**_ she wasn’t losing her mind in thinking the situation had been bad.

~~

_Try not to be alone;_ that was what they decided. Telling Shimura-san ‘no’ was apparently not an answer she could give him and continue on unbothered. Hizashi-sensei started to suggest having their training sessions more often and for longer periods of time… but Shikaku pointed out the obviousness of it all.

It left her with no clear way out but to try and avoid a well-respected councilman in his own backyard. He knew Konoha better than she did; she was willing to bet money on it. So, she had to get sneaky. In hindsight, she could have gone to Fugaku-sama… but she didn’t want to turn it into a clan matter if he agreed to her not joining – _and she didn’t want to be told to join if he didn't._

Hizashi-sensei may not have wanted to teach her at first, but she was his now. Shikaku was always on her side, too. Fugaku-sama was too big of an unknown.

“Ayame!” An idea struck her just as Iruka's voice did.

“Hey, Iruka,” The idea was growing the longer it took for him to reach her from across the yard. She had gone to his house after meeting with Hizashi-sensei and Shikaku. Obi-nii was going to be training late and she _didn’t want to be alone._ “Do you want to go train together?” More than Iruka and Naoya-kun, but the others in her class too. Tomoko-san and Manami-san and Shun-san and Kyō-san and – She had a whole class to choose from.

Even those from her own clan, if she needed to.

“Really?” The grin on his face said enough.

“Let's go see if anyone from the Academy wants to join us, I can try to swing by every day; maybe make it something everyone can join in on when they have time.” The Academy ended around the same time her training did, give or take some days, so the probability to do it every day and never be alone was high.

Naoya-kun could always let Shikaku know if not.

~~

Manami-chan was quickly shaping up to be a _terrifying_ force of nature in taijutsu, especially when her kekkei genkai was activated. Ryota-san, older than them by a few years _only because his parents held off on his admittance, she heard from Naoya-kun_, was holding his own and advancing well. Iruka was having a tough time getting a hold of Naoya-kun, the Nara Clan wasn’t known for close quarters combat she knew, and was doing well overall.

Tomoko-chan, Itsuki-san, Shun-san, and Haruhi-san were folded into a neat group at the edge of the clearing working on chakra exercises, more leaves to hone their focus before she would tell them about tree walking. Sora-san and Sakurako-san were walking through the Academy-style katas just behind the trio, nearer to the trees so they were out of the way. Kyō-san was the one squaring off against her today, having been watching her match against Ryota-san yesterday, and had a _slight_ advantage by not being tired already.

She was training with Hizashi-sensei not even half an hour prior and felt physically drained; not emotionally, though, or mentally.

Mentally, she was calculating the least amount of moves it would take to incapacitate Kyō-san without blacking out from overexertion. Emotionally, she was still riding the high of having to look over her should for Shimura-san when she was by herself.

She should be able to refuse a position if she didn’t want it, no matter who offered it… right?

~~

“And this is my cute little sister, Ayame!” Obi-nii thought it was a good idea to drag her with him to practice, since she had a free day and all her friends were in the Academy still. She agreed only on the condition that it was alright with his own sensei. “Aya-chan! You remember Rin-chan! And this is Minato-sensei and _that_,” His mouth went crooked, like he bit into something sour. “_That’s Bakakashi._”

“Obito!” Rin was quick to reprimand him. “His name is Hatake Kakashi, Ayame-chan, and that’s Namikaze Minato and I'm Nohara Rin.” _Full names_, as if that would make them easier to remember.

Rin was hard to forget, Obi-nii talked about her all the time, and his other teammate was going to be easier to remember than Rin thought since Obi-nii talked about him too. Not much about ‘Minato-sensei’ though. Kakashi-san looked like a cloudy day, his hair the color and his expression the weather itself; complete with his face being covered like an overcast. Minato-san was a sunny day in comparison: hair like the sun and eyes like a cloudless day, even a bright smile on his face as he nodded to her.

“Thank you for looking after my Obi-nii.” Bowing at the waist to remain respectful, she _did_ remember her manners for the most part, she rose to find Rin fluttering her hands and Minato-san scratching at his cheek. “And I want to apologize for any tardiness he may have caused or done.”

“_Aya-chan!_”

“It's quite alright, Ayame-chan,” Minato-san laughed as he waved off her apology, Obi-nii pouting at her side. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the Academy right now?”

_He didn’t tell them?_

“Sensei! I told you! Aya-chan already graduated!”

“Ah, that’s right,” _They hadn’t believed him._ “You must be very talented then.” She just looked at him, his impression dropping in her mind. “Who, um, is your sensei again?”

“Hyūga Hizashi is.” There was something that blanched across his face, a close cousin to surprise, but she couldn’t catch it. “Obi-nii said it was alright to observe his team today since I don't have any training scheduled until this afternoon. With your permission,” _He hadn’t believed Obi-nii…_

“I went to the Academy with Hizashi,” Minato-san remarked shortly before Kakashi-san said, “Sensei, we're late.”

“Right, it’s alright to tag along with us for now then, Ayame-chan. Maybe Hizashi and I can schedule a joint training session with your team a different day.”

“I don’t have a team.”

“Oh?”

“Weren’t you listening, sensei? I told you Aya-chan graduated early! She doesn’t have a team yet.” She told herself that his sensei was just forgetful but even Rin looked a little sheepish. _None of them had believed her Obi-nii._ “She's the youngest Uchiha to have graduated from the Academy and get her Sharingan, too! My Aya-chan is the best there is, and, when I become Hokage, she’s going to be my Jōnin Commander!”

Rin laughed along with his boasting while Minato-san nodded along, more thoughtful than indulgent, but it was Kakashi-san’s long considering look as they walked that struck her as odd. Hadn’t he graduated early too?

~~

“Do you have any specializations, Ayame-chan?” Minato-san started the conversation right after pitting Obi-nii and Kakashi-san into a spar against each other. Rin was on his other side, observing. It was a waste of time, in her opinion, since Rin could be doing other things while they sparred. 

“Hizashi-sensei tells me that building on the basics is important for right now and that expanding more after would be more beneficial to my skill set.” She had never really given her future much thought beyond wanting to protect her people, even if Obi-nii already knew what he wanted her to be.

A hum answered her, something she hoped meant that he was dropping the subject to focus on his students rather than her. She did not like watching Obi-nii get hurt; Kakashi-san knew what he was doing very well, even if Obi-nii did get some lucky shots in. “Is there anything you would be interested in learning then?”

“Iruka showed me his sealwork once,” Turning a few beautiful symbols and writing into something tangible and real appealed to her a great deal, though she couldn’t really explain why since it made a deep part of her almost _purr_. “But Hizashi-sensei told me that it was too soon to start on anything like that.” He told her that Fūinjutsu was dangerous if done incorrectly and that he would find someone with more knowledge than him, _to show her a few basic seals_, when he thought she was ready.

“Seals, huh.”

Obi-nii lost the spar, but he was happy to retell it to her while Rin, the team medic apparently, bandaged up his more serious injuries – they were all mostly minor but still.

~~

“There's another one!” _Noisy_ was the first thought, swiftly followed by _red_. She had wide sea foam green eyes and was pointing at Ayame shamelessly. Ayame, who stood to one side of Obi-nii with Rin on the other side; who didn’t have a scratch on her because of not having sparred like the rest of the team; who didn’t look the least bit enthused to be pointed at as if she had done something.

“Kushina –”

“_I thought you only had three!_”

“I do, but –”

“She's adorable – _but that’s beside the point, dattebane!_ I just want to squish her little –”

“Ayame-chan,” Mikoto-sama, Fugaku-sama’s wife, with her one-year-old in her arms, stepped up beside the noisy woman and smiled down at her. “Shadowing Obito-kun and his team for the day?” It wasn’t really a question but she nodded her head anyway, not liking the wide-eyed look the redhead was directing towards her clan head's wife.

“You know her?”

“Uchiha Ayame,” Mikoto-sama gestured towards her with a single hand. “Uchiha Obito's sister. She’s a genin under Hyūga Hizashi.” She had a really pretty smile, soft-like, and not at all like the little grin Obi-nii would get, that spoke of sunshine and big dreams.

The redhead looked between them all again – from Mikoto-sama’s indulgent little half-smile to Minato-san’s exasperated half-grin – before returning her eyes to Ayame, who was most decidedly not shifting further behind Obi-nii at the way her stare turned a little too intense. “Hizashi? Never thought I’d hear about him teaching a kid, _dattebane_. Not even a cute one like this!”

Ayame moved before she thought about it, putting Minato-san between the two of them, and watched as a glint caught her eye. _**Uh-oh.**_ “Ayame-chan,” Mikoto-sama started as Ayame kept Minato-san between her and the redhead as she circled around him. “This is Uzumaki Kushina, she’s a dear friend of mine from the Academy.”

_ **No, no, no, no – ** _

“_Shikaku!_” Ayame ducked around Minato-san and weaved between Obi-nii, Rin, and Mikoto-sama to speed walk towards her favorite adult. “Shogi?” She didn’t stop, choosing not to turn around and acknowledge the stare she could feel on her neck or the laughter she could hear from her favorite person. Shikaku looked over her head, right at her, and held out a hand without saying a word.

She ignored the indignant squawk she heard, too, when an invisible hand tugged at her, just after Shikaku's hand gripped her own, and she was suddenly standing in the Nara Clan Compound.

“_Troublesome._”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Shikaku smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly... slowly... but kinda steady. We probably only have five more chapters left.


	8. Chapter 8

Hizashi-sensei decided to spend the day training her mind, _and reflexes, _so they spent the day sequestered in the Hyūga Clan Compound playing shogi and mahjong and she spent the better part of the games dodging pebbles and kunai and trying to pay attention to where her next move was going to be and _did he move already or was he just testing her?_

“We shall take a break for now,” he said, leaning back then standing when it became apparent that he had won the game, as he normally did. Ayame didn’t let her guard down until he smiled and took his kunai pouch off, setting it on their table as he went to the door. “I believe you know Manami-chan.”

And there she was, standing in the doorway with a tray in her hands and creases between her brows and her mouth was – _Oh. _She was worried; this was new.

“You’re _bleeding_,” The frown on her face became more severe for a moment before she set the tray down and knelt beside Ayame. “Hold still.” From the tray, she picked up a napkin and dabbed at her cheek. She didn't noticed a small cut there until just then. “What were you even _doing_?”

“It was a game of mahjong.” It wasn’t shogi – Hizashi-sensei didn’t even bother waiting on turns then – but he instead had it on a pattern that constantly switched to something new once she discovered it. “I think I was close to winning this time.”

Manami-chan puffed her cheeks briefly, a sign of irritation, before turning and giving the same look to Hizashi-sensei.

“That’s **not** how you play mahjong.”

“No?” There was a grin teasing his lips and Ayame could only blink at it before struggling to lift her arm for a cup of tea. Her hand shaking made it a little difficult. “My mistake, would you like to join us next time? Perhaps you could teach us the correct way to play.”

He was _teasing_ her… huh.

“Maybe I should so you won’t be able to hit her as much,” And she reached over, without turning her head, to pour tea into the cup Ayame had only just managed to get her fingers wrapped around. She wanted to applaud her ability right then, but she was so physically drained that she only mumbled a thanks before drinking.

~~~

He had unkempt brown hair and almond eyes and a dead expression and she's _certain _that she’s seen him somewhere before. Blocking her path home, she considered walking around him, she didn’t know him –_ no matter how** familiar **he was_ – and she was not keen on being caught alone or outside of her clan's walls.

“My name is Kinoe,” He introduced himself only when she stopped walking and she watched him for a moment, spreading out her senses to see if there was anyone else nearby. “Danzō-sama asked me to speak with you.” _And now her senses were stretching out further._

“I do not wish to speak with you right now,” Understatement to a great degree. “Step aside, please.” Because she knew now that if she went to go around him that he would block her path and she did not like that. She did not like not knowing anything about his abilities and prowess and kept her focus on him and her senses on their surroundings.

“Why don’t you want to join?” He sounded so _confused._

“I like my sensei,” _She didn’t want a new one._ “I love my brother.” _She didn’t want to go years on end without seeing him or the sun or –_ “And I am helping my friends get stronger.”_ Because they were going to need every advantage to fight for their lives soon and –_

“Danzō-sama is a good sensei,” He nodded his head as if to stress that point. “And you would be leaving your brother behind to save him and all of Konoha.”

“I don’t _want_ to leave him behind.”

“Danzō-sama will not like that answer.”

“It is my answer all the same.” Ayame took a chance and walked around him, keeping her senses on both the boy behind her and the jōnin she could sense walking nearby.

“You may wish to change your mind.”

“I won't.”

~~~

“Shikaku-sama isn’t here,” Naoya-kun spoke around a yawn, one that was jaw-poppingly loud and she ignored on principal, when he ran into her halfway through the Nara Clan Compound. Ayame didn’t have training today, even though everyone else was in the Academy,_ except the one standing in front of her skipping she supposed_, and Obi-nii had a full set of missions, that she would hear all about when he got back, so she had plans to spend most of the day with Shikaku.

That was a bust.

“I could play you instead,” Naoya-kun rolled his neck one way then another, groaning at the snaps they made, and he kept his half-lidded gaze on her when he offered. She only ever played against Shikaku and Hizashi-sensei and Iruka,_ back in their younger years_, so she saw nothing wrong with agreeing to a game.

Two hours later, she could see why. Nara took their time planning out their moves and they were very precise about where they placed their pieces. Ayame was accustom to moving immediately after her opponent did, her thoughts working double-time, to try and push them into mistakes.

One hour later, she was sitting victorious on her cushion and Naoya-kun was staring at the board with eyes wide open for once.

“**Again.**” She couldn’t have refused.

~~~

Ryota-kun was picking up more and more taijutsu tips, such as they were, when they weren’t meeting up after the Academy that Ayame became one of the great few that could spar with him now. Manami-chan was vicious in a spar, yes, but Ryota-kun was _relentless_.

Ayame had experience and speed where he had age and bulk so their matches were normally considered a center piece and had everyone else watching. “Don’t overextend yourself,” Ayame found herself saying after watching him do so for the third time. “It will give your opponent an opening to disable that arm or leg and weaken you.”

His mouth thinned and his eyes narrowed but she found him listening to her a few moves later when a punch that he normally would have thrown his weight into only ended halfway and his barrage continued. Better – definitely better.

When the match ended with her sitting on his shoulders, Ayame rolled off of him and helped him back to his feet. “There’s nothing wrong with your hits when they land,” She started. “You don’t pull back fast enough though, and that gives your opponent time to land one on you. Speed, and flexibility, would be a good start to work on if you want to strengthen your taijutsu.”

“Do you have any tips or something?” He made a face before looking away. “I have no idea where to even start.” Ayame knew that feeling, and for once did have an answer to that question.

“I’ll write you up a training plan for your taijutsu, everything else we'll figure out as we get to it.”

~~~

Ayame stopped what she was doing – which was writing out strength-training exercises for Ryota-kun – when something was dropped on her head, Manami-chan had been the only one that close to her. Reaching up, she ended up pulling a flower crown off her head. She found Manami-chan's eyes and smile shortly after.

“We found irises,” There was one on her head too – hers mostly pansies – and she caught sight of Tomoko-chan – who had lavender – and Haruhi-chan – with begonias – and Sakurako-chan – hyacinths – and looked back at her wreath of vines and irises and considered it before putting it back on her head, to Manami-chan’s growing smile.

The kunoichi class in the Academy had started on the meanings of flowers – something she found interesting in an everyday type of setting and she recalled what a few of them meant. They were easier to remember than the others because they practically grew in their backyard with the Yamanaka Clan owned flower shops and farmlands.

“Would you like to make some more with us?”

She hadn’t had a girl friend before, having always spent her time with Iruka and Shikaku and Obi-nii and Naoya-kun and – “Yes.” She tucked her little notebook back into her kunai pouch before standing, checking over her person quickly before going with Manami-chan to the others.

Tomoko-chan had a ladybug on her hand, something that had Haruhi-chan and Sakurako-chan crowding her to look at. Because ladybugs weren’t _real_ bugs, of course. “Isn’t there a type of spider that finds its mate by making music and dancing?” She was sure she had read about that somewhere.

Tomoko-chan looked at her, eyes shaded from view by her clan's trademarked sunglasses, while Sakurako-chan asked her to talk more about them and Haruhi-chan asked where she had read that. Normally she would be able to answer, but she couldn’t think this time.

_Where had she heard about that spider?_

~~~

“Thank you for coming,” Tomoko-chan said in greeting, nodding her head some at the entrance to the Aburame Clan Compound. Ayame didn’t see any guards at the entrance but knew the clan had an affinity with insects that went beyond regular partnerships so she didn’t ask. “My mother would like to meet you.” Tomoko-chan was always formal in her speech but was even more so now.

She was probably nervous – Ayame was a little too.

Her mother was a polite recently remarried widow who accepted being called Aburame-chan, with Tomoko-chan’s dark hair and pointed chin, and was glad to know her daughter had a friend she considered close enough to bring home. It was what she told Ayame and Tomoko-chan was polite but brisk in moving them _somewhere else._

“My clan knows much about insects,” is what she had stated when inviting Ayame over one afternoon. “And there are some scrolls that you may find interesting as well.”

And Ayame did find them interesting, as they poured over the few in Tomoko-chan’s room – there were even a few in her clan whose kikaichū had _medicinal_ qualities, though it was rare. She never said what her own did, though Ayame had seen a few on her wrists before sleeves were adjusted.

It was an interesting visit and one she wouldn’t mind repeating.

~~~

“Okaa-chan came back from the hospital and discovered the gender of the baby.” Tomoko-chan said one afternoon in greeting, folding herself underneath one of the Hashirama trees lining the park they had all nicknamed _‘Training Ground Zero’._ “Her and Otou-san decided on a name, too.” It had been the most excited Ayame had ever seen Tomoko-chan, when she found out her mother was expecting.

“So, they know what to expect now?”

“Yes; I will have a little brother soon.” There was a ghost of a smile on her face when Ayame looked over and she found a smile forming at the sight of it. Tomoko-chan was always so private and quiet that seeing such an emotion made her happy.

“What is his name going to be?” She could see some of the others coming over the horizon – _it looked like Shun-kun was racing Iruka_ – from where she was sitting.

“Aburame Torune.”

~~~

“We can go get some ramen,” Obi-nii had graduated to chūnin, at long last, and Ayame promised to treat him to dinner. Obaa-san was tied up at the hospital, her appointment dragging on into the evening, and urged the two of them to celebrate without her. “Didn’t you say there was a ramen bar your sensei took you to?” They had celebrated a few successful missions and gone out to eat.

Obi-nii had loved it, even if he was late to the party.

“I guess we can,” Arms tossed behind his head, he nodded some, not as perky as he normally was.

“We could ask Rin if she wants to come?”

“Nah, she said she was going to be busy with some hospital training or something.” He already asked then and she was just the fallback option.

“Do you want to go training after ramen?” If there was one thing he did love to do, it was train. She didn’t understand it but she loved him for it anyway.

“Yeah! We can practice your Great Fireball technique and you can show me how cool it is!” He bounced back quicker than she thought he would and could only smile and go along with it. Whatever it took to make him happy.

~~~

“Today, we shall be doing something a little different,” Hizashi-sensei started, the corners of his mouth upturned just a bit. “It seems that a colleague of mine was _concerned_ about how much teamwork you would be learning when on a team by yourself so he has decided to push his team onto us as well.”

“That’s not what I said,” Minato-san’s voice carried over and Ayame tilted her head to the side in order to find him standing behind her sensei – Obi-nii and Rin she could feel in the trees further back. She could only assume Kakashi-san was there as well. “I said you could borrow my team for teamwork exercises until you filled the rest of yours in.”

“Which had nothing to do with the fact that you wanted to pit your prodigy against mine?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” And there was a smile nearly as bright as both the sun and Obi-nii and full of _lies_.

“So, we are going to be practicing teamwork?”

“Yes,” Hizashi-sensei answered while turning away from the still grinning blond. “But it would be more accurate to call it _partnerships_ since there will be two groups of two competing against one another.”

“Have you decided on the teams?”

“Yes,” The rest of Team Minato dropped down to stand around their sensei. “It will be an age-old game of girls versus boys: Nohara Rin and Uchiha Ayame against Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito.”

This _was not_ going to end well – even she could see that.

~~~

Each team was given a single scroll, which had to be placed somewhere within their designated ‘safe zone,’ and it was the job of the opposing team to take it, _by any means necessary_, and return to their own ‘safe zone’ – and thus be declared the winning team.

Rin was simple to work with, willing to hear out Ayame and her plans, but that wasn’t why she knew things weren’t going to go over well. She couldn’t see Obi-nii and Kakashi-san working together…

“Kakashi-kun has summons,” Rin told her during the ten minutes they were given to plan before the start of the ‘game’. “A pack of dogs; they’re trackers mostly but they could also be used as decoys and in his fighting techniques.” Dogs, trackers; they already had an advantage over them. It meant they had to be clever about where they put their scroll.

~~~

_“**Bakakashi! **It’s all your fault we lost! I told you –”_

__

__

_“If you had only **listened** when I told you –”_

__

__

_“I don’t have to listen to **you** –”_

__

__

_“The plan would have worked **perfectly** if you had just –”_

~~~

“Not bad for a genin, Hizashi,” Minato-san commented, seated beside Kakashi-san at the ramen bar with Rin between him and Obi-nii, and then there was Ayame next to her sensei. They took up most of the booth on their own. “Almost time to fill in the rest of the team, isn’t it?”

“I thought so, but Ayame-chan has been training her Academy year mates this last year so much that I thought to give them more time to prepare.” Ayame’s attention moved off of her miso ramen and onto Hizashi-sensei just as swiftly as Minato-san zeroed in on her.

“You’re training the students at the Academy?”

“Will my team be filled by those I have been training with?” Ayame ignored Minato-san’s question for the moment – _hers was more important right then_. There was a chance she could have Iruka and Naoya-kun and Ryota-kun and – “It will still be several years before final graduation for them.” Only a few, really, maybe less, but not any time soon she would think.

“Yes, I have decided to take two of your would-have-been classmates when they graduate, and yes, you do know both of them I have been told. One was in your class before your early graduation.” Naoya-kun then. And Iruka, too, since he said only one was in her class. But Ryota-kun hadn’t been in her class either… “Minato did ask you a question, Ayame-chan.”

Her question answered, she turned to face not only the blond sensei but all his students as well. “Yes, I have been training my former classmates for nearly a year now. Not all of them but the group has grown bigger than it was originally.” Not that she ever turned anyone away when they showed up…

“And what have you been teaching them?”

“Chakra control exercises and strength training and flexibility and katas,” She taught more _but… _“Shikaku told me to be careful with what I teach them because some of them may not be ready for advanced steps, like tree walking, so I have to assess their levels of experience and control before I can show them anything.” There were also the spars but she figured she probably shouldn’t mention them.

“And you do all this in your free time?” Minato-san gestured at her with his chopsticks and her stomach growled on cue to remind her of her own food.

“Obi-nii is busy with his team most days,” She turned back to her bowl. “And Iruka was always asking for help.” It wasn’t cold so it should still be good. “And Obaa-san says it's good to hang out with people my own age instead of reading by myself or playing shogi with Shikaku.” She probably hadn't meant like that but…

“Aya-chan’s always been busy.” Obi-nii shrugged off the event as if it was nothing and Ayame hid a smile behind her bowl, knowing he would have her side and glad he wasn’t making a big deal out of it. “Hey sensei! Can I have another bowl?”

~~~

Shinjiro-sensei was sitting on her porch when she got home, the sun having already dipped beyond the halfway point over the trees. He grinned at her when she stopped in front of him but she could see how tired he was. She _shouldn’t have_, but she did. “Hey Ayame-chan,” he said, bobbing his head to one side before it dipped down and hung there. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“I live here.”

“Yeah…” Shinjiro-sensei pat the porch step beside him. “Come sit with me for a sec? I need to ask you something.”

“You need to pay for D-ranks like everyone else in the village, Shinjiro-sensei,” Ayame told him while sitting, assuming he was here to try and shove his son off on her or Obi-nii _again_.

“That’s not what I’m here for this time, _I swear,_”

“Why are you here then?”

“It’s Shisui-kun.” So many different scenarios flashed across her eyes and she didn’t realize how close to a breakdown she was until Shinjiro-sensei was tugging her close and talking. “Ah, no, nothing bad – technically. He’s OK; he’s not hurt; _I should have worded that better_, I’m sorry.” His arm was around her shoulders and he had pulled her into his side, trying to stop her shakes.

She appreciated it, _even if it was his fault_.

“What _about_ Shi-chan?”

“It is my understanding that he has been going to your little gatherings in the park after attending the Academy every afternoon.” Ayame gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. “You’re not in trouble.”

“Not that my answer would change either way because of it, but yes he has been. I was worried if _he_ was in trouble for such. We only expand on the teachings that are already in place in the Academy for a better understanding of them. But I did expand more on chakra exercises than those taught in class.”

“That explains it…”

“Explains what?”

“Why Fugaku-sama decided to let Shisui-kun graduate early.” Her attention snapped over and she stared at Shinjiro-sensei with her frown rapidly growing more severe.

“But he’s _five._”

“I know.”

“He’s still considered a _toddler._”

“I know.”

“He just started the Academy_ last year._”

“I know, Ayame-chan, _I know_.” Head in his hands, Shinjiro-sensei mumbled the words out so she could hear them that time, looking more upset with each point she had made. “You know, I made those exact same arguments when he said he was graduating you, too.”

So it _was_ Fugaku-sama. “Did Obaa-san agree?” She was her guardian, wasn’t she?

“Yeah,” Shinjiro-sensei sagged back so he was lying across the front porch. “Don’t know what she was thinking. Always said something about how you and Obito-kun were just like her husband’s parents – whoever _they_ were.”

“The Clan doesn’t know?” It was unheard of for a woman of the clan to have children with an unknown father – the bloodlines had to be kept track of so cousins weren’t marrying each other when they were too close blood-wise. The Clan always had to come first; _always._

“She told the elders, naturally, and I believe Mikoto-sama’s father, when he was clan head, but the clan – as a whole – has been largely kept out of the loop.” He roughly shook his head before settling back down with a thunk. “Ah, we’ve gotten off topic. I wanted to ask if you thought Shisui-kun was ready for graduation.”

“If I_ ignored_ all my previous points?”

“Yeah.”

“Shi-chan is smarter than most people give him credit for,” She didn’t enjoy admitting it either because – “And, based on the knowledge he may be able to learn if he did stick around in the classes… yes. I have no objections to his graduation.”

“But only if we ignored everything else.”

“_Precisely._”

~~~

“Take a seat, Ayame-chan,” Hizashi-sensei was pouring tea as she entered the room and she slid into her seat at the table with a quirked brow. “I would like to talk with you about your team and who you would like to see on it.”

“Am I allowed to pick my own teammates?”

“No, the team has already been decided,” He smiled some as he handed her a cup. “I merely wish for your opinion.”

“Are you going to tell me who is on the team so that I can?”

“I’m going to list all of the people that had been considered,” He smiled a little, seemingly enjoying the suspense he was leaving her in. “And I would like your opinion on all of them.” There was something about what he was saying…

“Are you going to list all my former year mates?”

“Most of them, yes.” _Of course…_

“Where shall we begin then?” No suspense, just acceptance; he wasn’t going to tell her who her teammates were going to be.

“Let’s start with someone who was in your year but not your starting class,” Hizashi-sensei paused to sip at his tea. “What do you know of Daisuke Sora?”

“Sora-san started attending the meetings at the same time as Shun-kun, and he is very interested in expanding his knowledge of bōjutsu. His taijutsu is satisfactory and his memorization of general shinobi arts is just above average, when compared to others in his class and with the knowledge of him striving to become the first shinobi in his family.”

“You know quite a bit about your classmates, don’t you?” It was almost rhetorical, the way he said it, but the way he tipped his head just a fraction towards her had her answering.

“Naoya-kun and I talk about them sometimes, after they’ve gone home and it’s just me, him, and Iruka left.” Iruka, who would be passed out or still working his way through katas and stretches and not listening to either of them.

Hizashi-sensei hummed as he drank his own tea, eyes a little distance before he spoke again. “What of Inuzuka Shun?”

“His taijutsu is improving, both solo and with his pups. Memorization is mostly limited to what his senses remind him but is slowly improving. His kunai throws could use improvement; his flexibility is one of the best in the group.” Shun-kun was nearly as flexible as she was.

They continued speaking, sometimes he would mention someone that didn’t attend her gatherings but they were few and far between. She wondered who her teammates were going to be.

~~~

“Congratulations on passing your Genin Exams,” Gurou-sensei was still in charge of the classroom she found herself in not a week later, a strange mix of students that had both been in her class and not. Hizashi-sensei told her to observe and not be seen, _to keep her presence a surprise_, so she had snuck in before the announcements started and hid in the rafters close to the back. She thinks Shun-kun noticed her, though, by the way his head tipped back and he scented the air. “Sit down, all of you, and I’ll announce team placements.”

It was the whole reason she was there.

He listed off people she knew and didn’t know – in groups that made sense to her and some that didn’t – before she tuned in sharply to what he was saying next. “Team Seven will consist of Umino Iruka and Senju Rikuto – you will both join the genin already assigned to Hyūga Hizashi.”

_She got Iruka… but who was Rikuto?_


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe 1 or 2 chapters left. Buckle up.

“Are you pleased with your team?” Hizashi-sensei was _smug_, they were both standing in the middle of Training Ground 13 waiting on the rest of their newly-named team to arrive. She finally recognized the other boy that made up their team and…

“Let’s hope for the best.” She could only hope that the brunette had changed some from the last time they spoke to each other. When he was trying to get her to have lunch with him and didn’t seem to leave her be in class. Not to mention how he acted when they were younger in the park…

Uchiha and Senju didn’t mix; it was worse than Hyūga and Inuzuka.

“Ayame!” She was braced and ready and let a smile form on her face anyway at the way Iruka rushed over once they were in sight and nearly tackled her in his embrace. Even after all the years they had known one another, she still enjoyed the warmth of him all around her in his hugs and how he fit in her own arms. “We're on the same team! Did you know?”

“I found out right when you did.”

“_Great _– I have to be with _both_ of them.” Spiky light brown hair – _a light coffee color, mostly tan really_ – and matching eyes set in a round face, youth still clinging to him with the excess baby fat the Academy hadn’t dissolved yet. His mouth was set in a scowl and his brows were – _refined, really_ – pulled low and furrowed to showcase his displeasure.

“Now, now, no need for resentment just yet,” Hizashi-sensei was _enjoying_ this. “I have scheduled for this to be our regular Training Ground and I expect all of you to be here at seven every morning unless otherwise told.”

“Yes, sensei!” Iruka was the only one to answer, Ayame was already well aware of her training schedule and the Senju boy was busy scowling at both her and Iruka – which she _did not _enjoy. “Are we going to be training today?” It was asked with a grin on a scarred face and Ayame smiled, still getting used to the fact that Iruka was on her team, _thank the Sage_.

“No, not just yet anyway. Follow me.” And they did, Iruka leading with Ayame close behind him, Senju bringing in the rear, almost dragging his feet. They were taken to a clearing a little further in and told to sit. “Normally, when a genin team is formed, a jōnin-sensei will test his team to ensure they are either compatible or genin-material. I will _not_ be testing you.”

“Why not?”

“The Hokage and I hand-selected each one of you to be a part of this team and I have been watching and gauging your abilities for the last year. I have full confidence in this team being able to work and grow strong, together.” He had more confidence than Ayame did, and that said something.

“Why the three of us?” Senju asked, his scowl mostly gone but his face was more curious than upset.

“We shall be training to be an infiltration and reconnaissance squad primarily, our main priorities will be to get behind enemy lines and find details on them and their missions. Information is your new precedence.” Information gathering? That required high intelligence and subterfuge, capabilities to lie to someone's face and remember said lie later. It was not what she thought her team would do.

Especially not with _Iruka _on the team.

~~

“You were in Ayame's class, weren’t you?” Iruka leaned in Senju's direction and Ayame just barely kept herself from reaching out and pulling him back.

“Yeah, it was a clan-run class.” She would argue that Umino was a clan, too, but wasn’t sure. She still tossed a dark look his way for how he said it. “How do _you_ know her?” It was asked with a frown and a glance between them and Ayame quirked a brow at the question. Why ask now?

Iruka laughed though. “We met at the park,” He tossed his arms behind his head with a grin and settled back against her, almost without thought. “I asked her to play ninja,” It was spoken with an embarrassed tinge to his voice but Ayame curled her hand against his side in comfort. They were kids after all.

Senju scoffed, looking away sharply with his arms crossed. “She didn’t want to play with the rest of us when we asked – What makes _you _so special?”

He had Obi-nii’s smile and presence without the sadness of the clan behind his irises and – 

“Eh? You did? I mean,” Iruka twisted, and it hurt to watch the way he did, and met her gaze. “Didn't you like playing ninja?”

“It was fine.” She did it more for Iruka than anything.

“Ah, Ayame liked playing shogi more, though, and she's really good at it! I can never beat her.” He huffed and wriggled around until he was lying across her lap but still turned towards Senju. Who narrowed his eyes at him.

“Who likes playing shogi?” He sniffed. “It’s boring.”

“It’s _strategies_,” She didn’t think she would have to defend the game but… “Shikaku told me it would help keep my mind active.” And it was very familiar to a life lived before that she kept playing it and enjoyed playing. She liked shogi and mahjong and – 

“_Boring._” He said again, a half-lidded stare accompanying his word and stretching it out, and Ayame's own eyes began to narrow at him. She got along with Senju Itsuki so she thinks Itsuki-kun was the exception and not the one on her team.

This was going to take a lot of work…

~~~

She ended up twisting her ankle on their first team-training session – _and she blamed Senju._

“Are you OK?” Iruka was, understandably, worried; hovering over her as she tested her ankle twice before calling for sensei. “Do you need to see an iryō-nin?” Iruka was the only one talking, though, as Senju stood a bit away with a narrow-eyed look and his hands clenched. 

“I may need to have it looked at.” She frowned at her ankle as she considered it. Everything was going well until Senju went off on his own, talking about taking down Hizashi-sensei on his own, and had the two of them go after him. They were a team of genin, regardless of how high up they were in said rank, and they were against a jōnin that knew them well; teamwork and careful planning were going to be needed.

She had shoved Iruka out of the way of a trap that he activated, _that Senju had made_, and had twisted her ankle in the process.

Fantastic.

“We should get Hizashi-sensei.”

“Wait,” Her mind was working through possibilities and scenarios and – _if this worked_ – she could _consider_ forgiving him for his misstep. “No… this could work to our advantage.”

“What are you talking about?” Senju's frown only deepened with her words and she found herself frowning right back. “You need to see a medic.”

“I’m not going to die from blood loss or lost limbs; I can manage a little bit longer – just_ listen_,” She waved for them both to come closer and was relieved when they did. “We're going to be an infiltration and reconnaissance squad, right? Subterfuge is included.” Her teammates looked at each other then back at her. “Here's my plan.”

~~~

Iruka was a beautiful actor, if a little nervous. The nervousness made it so very authentic that she nearly applauded him right then and there. But they had a job to do and she had to hold off, keep the grimace on her face as she struggled to limp towards them, and give Rikuto enough time to finish his end of the plan.

Hizashi-sensei had played his own part as if he had known the whole time.

~~~

“The three of you did very well.” Hizashi-sensei said, looking down at the pit Rikuto had made and lured his clone into before turning his gaze to the Uchiha-grade ninja wire that Iruka had backed him into. Ayame took no small amount of pleasure in flicking her chakra out to activate the final trap they had him in.

The wire fell from the trees and seemed to be harmless, but it was rigged with the pitfall Rikuto had made and snapped around Hizashi-sensei’s ankles and dragged him through the dirt. Iruka lunged for Hizashi-sensei’s sash – the item they were supposed to be retrieving – before Rikuto rolled into them both as a distraction.

The slight of hand and switch was nearly seamless, even if her ankle felt as if it was literally burning.

~~~

“Why didn't you tell me that you were injured?” Hizashi-sensei noticed the switch, because of course he did, but still called the training session a success. Then Iruka told him that the injury they played up was real.

“I didn’t want to waste the opportunity.”

~~~

The Third Shinobi World War had become official just a few weeks ago and Ayame was _displeased_. Not because they were at war, even if it was not a good thing and had her worried, but because she never saw much of Obi-nii anymore. With his sensei being Minato-san, _a jōnin of great renown apparently_, and his team being made of chūnin and a, now, jōnin, they were assigned more border patrols and carrier missions than their peers.

Her team, still being new, couldn't help as much as they did.

“Don’t worry, Aya-chan,” Obi-nii had his hands busy, fixing her twin tails from where they were starting to droop from their ties. He never did make the ribbons tight enough but she enjoyed the fact that he attempted it everyday he was in village. This was the first time she had seen him in _weeks_. “The war's gonna be over soon and then I can train with you all day!”

She didn’t care if they were training – _she wanted him **home**_.

“How long is your mission going to be this time?” She kept perfectly still through every tug at her scalp that made her want to fidget and pull away. Obi-nii loved doing her hair – but _teenage boy fingers _weren’t the most gentle.

“I don’t know,” He huffed, the air shifting the hair at the back of her neck. “_Bakakashi _is supposed to be leading the next mission, _the bastard_, so he'll probably make us run the whole time to cut down on the mission estimates.”

“A week then.”

A groan answered her. “It's like you know how he _thinks_! That’s not _fair_, Aya-chan! _You’re supposed to be my sister._” He muttered the last bit, hugging her to him, and she curled against him tighter.

“But the only reason he will be able to finish the mission so quickly is because you will be there to keep him in line.” Kakashi-san was a_ peculiar_ pre-teen, even more so than she thought possible when she first heard about him from Obi-nii. He thought in statistics and probabilities, something she could understand to a great degree…

But he was missing the _heart_ behind his responses – except when he was arguing with Obi-nii.

Having Kakashi-san run any kind of mission without Obi-nii, or someone he reacted similarly to, would end in disaster – even if the mission did end in a success on paper.

Obi-nii snickered then laughed at her response, pulling her up when he did and then promptly dragged her with him to his room. “Yeah! Bakakashi would be terrible if I'm not there to save him!” That wasn’t what she said but she wasn’t going to correct him. “Help me pack? You _always_ know what to bring.”

She was going to miss him _so much_ when he left for his next mission.

~~~

She couldn’t sit still. Kushina-san had caught her going home from training and dragged her and her team out to dinner, shouting – _because the woman had no other volume_ – that she never got to see her anymore. Ayame went limp in her grip, hoping she would lose interest if she didn’t fight back, and Iruka _snickered_ at her.

Senju looked confused and amused in equal measure. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having him on a team after all.

The place of choice was a ramen bar, something she claimed to take her own team out to eat at, and was where she ordered more food than was possibly recommended. “Obito-kun and his team had a mission, right?”

“They left two days ago,” And she hadn’t been able to sit still since, a churning in her stomach and a low boiling in her blood that something was off – the voice in the back of her head, something that got quieter the more time went on, was screaming and crying, it sounded like. “Do you know what they're doing?” She knew it was an unspoken rule, to not discuss one's missions, but she was worried.

“Ah,” Kushina-san put down her third bowl, looking at her with Rikuto peaking around at her from the other side of the redhead. “I know it was an important mission but I don’t know any of the details.”

“Right.” It was expected and Ayame turned back to her ramen with Iruka's hand settling on her back briefly. Kushina-san filled in the empty silence with stories about her own team – she had _Naoya-kun_ as one of her genin and Ayame felt a bit of pity go out for the sleepy Nara being around the boisterous Uzumaki day-in and day-out.

She recognized Sora-san but knew nothing but Kushina-san's stories about Kaiya-san.

~~~

“Naoya-kun,” Kushina-chan had invaded their usual training ground with her team panting behind her, apparently going through stamina exercises, and Ayame knew those sleepy eyes anywhere.

“_Ayame-chan_,” Naoya-kun shuffled over, bluntly ignoring both his team and his sensei, and leaned his whole weight against her; his forehead hit her shoulder when she caught him and took his weight. “_Kill me_.”

“I would trade places, but I don’t think that’s allowed.” She shifted some, well used to him and Iruka leaning on her, and adjusted her grip to keep him more upright. “Are we going to have another group session, sensei?”

“_Again? _Aren't we the first? Hizashi!”

Hizashi-sensei didn’t look overly thrilled at the attention being on him but Ayame was keeping most of her attention on Naoya-kun. The girl on his team, Kaiya-san, had shuffled over to Senju and they were speaking quietly while Iruka tossed Sora-san's arm over his shoulder to help. Together they shuffled the group over to the shade of a tree and laid them down.

She adjusted Naoya-kun when he started to curl into himself.

“She’s a crazy person,” Naoya-kun grumbled into her leg, having dragged himself up from the ground with a grimace and dropped his head into her lap. “None of her training makes _sense_.”

“What do you mean?” Expertly untying his hair, she ran her fingers through it – knowing from experience it calmed his heart rate when she did and scratched at his scalp just a little – and ignored the _icky boy-sweat_ that clung to the locks and smeared her fingers. “Walk me through her training.” They would figure it out together.

~~~

“Fūinjutsu?” Naoya-kun’s brows were furrowed, but the considering look in his eyes was familiar.

“The Uzumaki Clan is –_ was_ – known for its masterful use of fūinjutsu. Sealwork was used in many ways in Uzushio and was the backbone of most of their techniques and way of living.” Ayame had been given access to the Uchiha Clan libraries and had found the old history scrolls, detailing the observations of the other clans around them. She doubted that was what Fugaku-sama had intended when he allowed her to use the library but she liked reading Kagami-san's notes and observations. He had trained under _Tobirama_ after all.

Naoya-kun had finally gotten around to sitting up, something like interest in his gaze, and she knew exactly what to say to make him interested in fūinjutsu beyond any other specialization he could choose. “Fūinjutsu is really interesting when you get around to it; complex demands and actions completed at a touch of chakra and a series of scribbled words and symbols.”

_Gotcha_ – Naoya-kun turned his sights on Kushina-chan, who was still arguing with Hizashi-sensei, and she knew her work had only just begun.

“Kushina-chan is one of the last Uzumaki,” She had overheard a couple of her clanmates mention it before. “And she will more than likely want to share her knowledge with her team.”

“So,” Naoya-kun turned bored eyes on her again, though the look was only on the surface. “A lot of work with minimal effort?”

“Everything is a puzzle.” That voice in the back of her head was humming now, a low, pleased, noise that put her at ease. “The seal can either have two pieces or a thousand.” Naoya-kun _liked_ puzzles.

He hummed some, too, then promptly dropped down on her lap again when Kushina-chan announced that they figured out what to do for training.

~~~

They were paired off in a tag-team free-for-all that Ayame_ despised_. Senju and Naoya-kun were one team with Iruka and Kaiya-san being another, she was paired with Sora-san and had a rough idea on his abilities and how best to work with him.

She wished she could have helped Iruka with his own partnership but he was friendly enough with others that he shouldn’t have any communication problems.

The point of the fighting was that each team was given a free area, where they were safe from the other team, but only one of them was allowed out of the space at a time – Kushina-chan fashioned a fūinjutsu barrier just for the occasion, saying it would only work on all of them because of their low levels.

The victory team went to the pair that could either force both other pairs out of their safe space or incapacitate them. Ayame was already working through scenarios and ideas when Hizashi-sensei declared they would have five minutes to plan before the start.

Kushina-chan said it was too long but Ayame barely heard – she was already pulling Sora-san away.

~~~

“Iruka still good at traps?”

“He has improved since graduation and his creativity with them has nearly_ doubled_. What are Kaiya-san’s strong points?”

“Kaiya? Her dad was teaching her how to use the kusarigamajutsu before he died so she'll probably use that if she’s out and about – she started taking iryō-ninjutsu classes at the hospital when we became genin, too. What about Rikuto-san? He didn’t come to Training Ground Zero; what's his story?”

“His taijutsu is average and he seems to have a preference for trap-making, even if it's _not_ his strong suit. Be careful of his pitfalls, though – he uses a wind jutsu I’m not familiar with to keep people in.”

“Naoya is still pretty bad at taijutsu, but better than before since Kushina-sensei has been running us ragged in stamina exercises. He's probably the most dangerous person here, though.”

“My strong suits are ninjutsu and bukijutsu – I have recently learned a few fire techniques but I would prefer to keep them to a minimum in case of them getting out of hand.”

“I’m pretty good at bōjutsu if I need to use it but I have a bow and chakra arrows.”

“Your aim is good?”

“Enough.”

“I have an idea, then.”

~~~

“We're going to play another round of shogi when this is over,” Naoya-kun was wrapped in her ninja-wire and tied securely to a tree limb so he was facing the safe space her team was given. Iruka was in a similar situation in a tree just to the side but turned a slightly different way so they couldn’t communicate without speaking loud enough for her to hear.

She had done that to the both of them before having Sora-san go after his own teammate – being able to get closer to her than Ayame would have been because of his arrows. She almost wanted to learn how to do that, but knew it was about as chakra heavy as her Grand Fireball technique. That, and having him carefully loop the arrows around a string of explosive tags made more sense, with him being more experienced with the ability and its precision.

The explosion that went off a few moments later had the ground under her feet shaking and her head tilting, considering.

One team down and one to go, she thought when Kaiya-san took a step into the clearing and right into a trap.

~~~

“You all did very well today,” Hizashi-sensei told them while Kushina-chan snickered behind him. Ayame was willing to bet it was because of how the explosions messed up Kaiya-san’s hair. “The exercise showed us what we need to work on next to improve all of your capabilities but it also showed each of you where your strengths were in a crisis.”

“Don’t tell me we're going to do this again,” Kaiya-san groaned as she pat furiously at her hair in an effort to get it to stay down.

Kushina-chan finally let out the loud laugh she was holding in. “After what we saw? I think this should become a regular thing, _dattebane_!” And she went on laughing as her team, mostly, groaned.

“It was a good team up while it lasted,” Sora-san mumbled to her and she just bobbed her head in agreement. Sora-san knew how she worked and didn’t fight her on her ideas, except to add in tidbits that she hadn’t known about his team; it was a good partnership, even if it wouldn’t work like that next time.

“Come on, brats! I’ll treat you to dinner, you look like you need it,” Kushina-chan snickered again and led the way towards, what Ayame was going to guess was, the ramen bar from the other day. Her team starting to complain confirmed that.

~~~

Kushina-chan wouldn’t_ leave her alone_; she followed her from the clan grounds to the training field in the morning –_ heckling Hizashi-sensei and teasing her teammates before running to her own team _– and would trail behind her when she went with Iruka back to his home when he wanted to swap tags for wire with her – she had hollered and wrapped herself around his _dad _when they met and Ayame found the wet eyes so strange.

She walked her home later and Ayame caught the glances she kept sneaking.

“What’s going on?” She stopped, the path leading home empty of people and giving her the chance she needed without attention. Kushina-chan stopped too and made a face when she turned to her. “Is Obi-nii alright?” That was their only connection, besides Mikoto-sama, and she would have heard if anything happened to her.

“I got a messenger toad from Minato yesterday that said the mission went bad.” She knelt down in front of her, reading the panicked expression on her face. “The toad couldn’t tell me anything else but I wanted you to have someone here before they got home.”

Where was Obi-nii – Was he OK – Was he_ hurt _– Was _Rin _hurt – What happened – _**Obi-nii **_– Her heart felt like it was punching at her chest, struggling to get out, and there was a white noise around her that made focusing difficult.

The voice was back and it was _screaming_ again.

“You don’t know anything else?” Her voice croaked when she tried speaking but she had to ask the question.

“I’m sorry,” Kushina-chan pulled her close and wrapped her in a hug that blanketed her in the woman’s chakra. “We won’t know anything else until they get home. They should be back tomorrow.”

_Tomorrow _– Obi-nii was coming_ home_ – He_ had_ to come home – 

“Let’s get you home for now.” Kushina-chan didn’t let her go, instead opting to carry her the rest of the way. Her chakra wrapping around Ayame was the only thing that kept her grounded and not in a panic attack, hands clutching at the redhead's dress and wishing it was navy and orange instead.

**Shikaku – Iruka – Obi-nii – **

~~~

“Ayame…” Iruka tugged at her hand to get her attention but she didn’t turn to look at him. Her focus stayed on the entrance to Konoha her Obi-nii had walked out of a week prior. The one he should be walking through today. “We're late for training.” Iruka found her twenty minutes ago – one of the gate guards mentioned it when he showed up – and has been trying to get her to move since.

She would not.

“I’m not going today.” She never missed a single session but she wanted to be there when Obi-nii came home – _the mission didn’t well_ – she wanted to know he was OK.

“Do you want me to let sensei know?” Iruka's hand was warm, wrapped as it was around her own, but Ayame could barely muster up the strength to return the grip.

“Please.”

He squeezed at her hand again before she blinked and the sun moved and there were different guards at the gate and Iruka was gone and Hizashi-sensei was knelt in front of her with a frown.

“Ayame-chan?”

“Obi-nii is supposed to come home today.” She wasn’t moving until he got home. Hizashi-sensei looked at her – his mouth tipping down and his brows dipping – before standing up again, Senju and Iruka behind him. Iruka was worried, his lip tugged between his teeth and his hands shifting restlessly – Senju nearly wore Hizashi-sensei’s expression, even if his was more visibly confused.

They were gone with the next blink and Kushina-chan was there, with Mikoto-sama and her baby – Itachi. Itachi was so small, only four-years-old, but he stared at her so intently.

“Ayame-chan?” It was Mikoto-sama that asked, even though Ayame only half understood the question she was asking.

“Obito-kun is coming home today.” Kushina-chan was the one to answer her, sitting beside Ayame and tucking her under her arm. Mikoto-sama made a face, Itachi-sama looked between them all with a seriousness that didn’t belong on his face, and Ayame stared at the tree line leading to Konoha.

“Will you hold Itachi for me?” Ayame didn’t answer, staring through her clan's matriarch, but Mikoto-sama shifted the child out of her arms and into Ayame's lap. Itachi-sama grabbed onto her collar loosely and looked up at her while Mikoto-sama pulled Kushina-chan away.

The next blink had just her and Itachi-sama at the gates.

Another blink and the sun was high in the sky and Itachi-sama was gone but Hizashi-sensei was back with Iruka and Senju and Iruka was trying to push a rice ball into her hand.

Another blink and it was just Iruka and Senju sitting beside her – bracketing her in between them – and she finally saw something golden on the horizon. Obi-nii’s sensei was the only person she knew with sunset gold hair and he was_ there _and _here _and getting _closer_. 

Golden bled into navy and green before storm-cloud gray hit her eyes and Kakashi-san’s hair registered a moment before brown and pink – _Rin_ – came into view too. The whole team was there because Obi-nii would never be very far from his team and – 

“Ayame-chan…” Kakashi-san’s head was on his sensei's shoulder and Rin walked at their sensei's side with her head down and two bags on her back and – Ayame was on her feet, Iruka holding her hand tightly, and there were blue-_blue-**blue**_ eyes, deep as what she thought the ocean would look like and just as wet and – “I’m sorry.”

“Where's Obi-nii?” She could barely feel herself shaking but she felt Hizashi-sensei’s hand curling into her shoulder and she thinks that was Senju grabbing her other hand. “Is he OK?” She could hear the cracks in her voice.

Minato-san knelt down, hands tucked back to keep Kakashi-san on his back, and he kept his eyes on her. “I’m so _sorry_, Ayame-chan.” Rin had flinched and kept staring at the ground – she heard a choked sob and – 

“**No –**” She could feel her chakra winding out of her control, her Sharingan flickering to life before she could stop it – recording everything she was without her consent. Details jumped put at her – the tiny specs of grey in Minato-san’s eyes that the tears gathering there didn’t hide – the different shades of brown in Rin's hair that she noticed because of her shaking shoulders drawing her eye next – the colors of the leaves – the barely noticeable freckles on Iruka's cheekbones when he shifted in and out of her view. “_Where is my brother?_” Fear turned to anger and rage and her fingers were claws that sunk into Minato-san’s vest.

“Ayame –”

“**_No _**– You tell me where my brother is – **_Where is he?_**” Her voice broke at some point in her rage, the tears stinging her eyes and dry cheeks and blurring her vision and – “He –”

**No – No – No – No – _gone – he can’t be gone _– not Obi-nii – _not him_ – Sage, please, no, take her instead – give her back her brother full of sunshine smiles and big dreams and – **

“Ayame –”

** _She didn’t want him to touch her._ **

She watched with growing numbness as Minato-san's hand went through her shoulder as if she was made of air, _of nothingness_, and heard more than saw Fugaku-sama call her name next. Her head felt so heavy, there were pictures flashing in front of her eyes – her eyes felt like they were burning from the inside out.

“_Why didn’t you bring him home?_” **Nothing **– there was nothing left for her in the family. Obi-nii was her family – he was all she had to look forward to in the clan – _He was her Obi-nii._

** _Sage, no, don’t take him._ **


	10. Chapter 10

_“Vita, _come on_! We're gonna be late!”_

_“Aya-chan! Sorry! Obaa-san needed my help in the kitchen.”_

_“Have you decided where you're going to college?”_

_“What are we gonna work on today? Tree walking?”_

_“Look at that _picture_! Everyone has a dorky photo on their driver's license the first time around, Vita, I swear.”_

_“Ayame! You didn’t dress up for your picture? It goes in your shinobi records! You gotta look cool for it!”_

_“Hey Vita –”_

_“Ayame –”_

_ **Who was she?** _

~~

It was in the blank nothingness that she sat, staring at the black world around her. She didn’t see an end in sight, just nothing stretched out before her that carried on into the abyss beyond her sight. Two lives were filling her head – _Uchiha Ayame_, the genin under Hyūga Hizashi, the little genius of the Uchiha Clan that loved her b–

And then there was _Vita Havard_, first year architect major, awkward kid of the graduating class that had a late start to college. Baking and typing and sketching and _she didn’t know who this woman was._

She _was_ this woman.

“I am sorry for your loss.”

Obito – Obi-nii – _which one was he _–

**No.**

“He’s _alive_.” Vita Havard has seen this before and knew her Obi-nii – knew Uchiha Obito –

Minato-san would never have left Obi-nii behind – Kakashi-san would never have left him – Rin would never – 

_Oh, Rin._

“These eyes have always had a cost.” The voice was still talking, and it wasn’t the normal voice she would hear. The one she had always heard never spoke clearly but only left impressions on her. This voice was new. “With great power, comes great loss.”

_With great power, comes great responsibility_ – thanks Spider-Man – thanks Superman.

Oh.

“Who are you?” Her voice was there but not; she had opened her mouth to speak and she heard the words around her, but she never felt them leave her mouth. “Where am I?”

“Who I am is not important,” Old, so very _old_, and familiar – _Vita Havard knew who he was_ – and Ayame reached up to clutch at her head when more of Vita’s life shifted in front of her eyes. “I’m afraid I have no other option than to beg your help.” Oh, she knew him, knew him in two different lives, and wanted nothing to do with what he was asking in one of them.

Ayame wanted her Obi-nii back.

_Vita wanted her life back._

“At what cost?” Why now? Why was all this happening right now? “Did you cause all of this? Am I here only because of your meddling?” Did Obi-nii have to suffer because this man needed to speak with her?

“What has happened to your brother was always going to happen.” Not words she wanted to hear – she was curling into a ball before she could think of doing it. Vita remembered the rocks falling and crushing him – Vita knew that someone would pull him out of the rubble and fix his wounds – Vita knew they would use him and twist him into something _not-Obito._

Vita knew – Ayame **refused**.

“Then why didn’t you stop it?” He never did answer her questions from before.

“I needed you to help me do so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End part one!
> 
> More to come in the next one! I'm just so happy I can finally mark this as completed. And I'm sorry it was so short! It was better to stop it here and continue in the next part.


End file.
